Malacañang said the government is doing its best to speed up the graduation and examination of the country's would-be doctors to address the shortage of manpower in hospitals amid the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque made the statement after it was reported that volunteer doctors at the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) decided to not renew their contracts, further emphasizing the institution's staffing crisis.
In his press briefing on Monday, September 13, Roque said measures are being undertaken to address the situation, including the ongoing recruitment of the Department of Health (DOH) of medical professionals.
"Patuloy po ang recruitment ng ating DOH para sa mga medical professionals na either volunteer or magse-sweldo po (The DOH continues to recruit medical professionals who are either volunteers or will be hired)," he said.
But the good news is, according to Roque, is that the country has new nurses and doctors that would make up for the demand for health professionals amid the crisis.
"Ang mabuting balita po, marami naman po tayong mga bagong graduates at mga bagong pasang mga nurses (The good news is we have new graduates and newly passed nurses)," he said.
"Pagdating naman po sa mga doktor, yun nga po, ginagawa natin ang lahat para magsipagtapos ang ating mga doktor at magkaroon ng examination para hindi po tayo maubusan ng mga doktor (When it comes to doctor, we are doing everything so they can graduate immediately and take their examination so we won't run out of doctors)," he added.
In an interview with ANC, PGH spokesman Dr. Jonas del Rosario said the country's premier COVID-19 referral facility is already stretched out as coronavirus patients continue to come in and health workers are either quitting or getting sick.
"Talagang nararamdaman namin yung problema namin sa manpower (We really feel the problem on manpower)," he said.
"A lot of our healthcare workers are getting sick also. Marami na ring pagod at (many are also exhausted and) some are also exposed to the virus so they have to undergo the mandatory quarantine," he added.
He said over the last year, PGH had 25 volunteer doctors, but some of them decided to quit to pursue their subspecialty.
Del Rosario added that PGH originally had 320 beds allotted for COVID-19 patients but is now operating beyond its capacity.
He said that as of Monday morning, 310 patients are currently admitted, with 40 more waiting in the emergency room.