Two bills are being pushed by the Department of Health (DOH) that seek to improve the conditions of private nurses given that those in DOH hospitals have better salaries forcing some to either move to these hospitals or leave the country.
In a press briefing on Friday, Sept. 16, DOH Officer-in-Charge Maria Rosario Vergeire explained that they cannot control or limit the mandate over private hospitals since there is no existing policy or law that they can base from. For now, they are asking for support in pushing for two bills.
Vergeire said that they would like to amend the Magna Carta for Public Health Workers that it would cover both public and private healthcare workers all over the country.
"Ang (The) salient features ng rating (of our) Magna Carta would include the provision of hazard pay to all of our healthcare workers, kasama rin po diyan yung (that includes the) educational assistance natin sa ating mga (for our) healthcare workers especially yung (the) beneficiaries ng ating (of our) Covid-19 healthcare workers," she said.
"Another one would be additional compensation. Kapag may Magna Carta kasi, kapag may pinatupad, (if there is a Magna Carta approved) usually public healthcare workers lang base sa batas natin ngayon (it usually involves public healthcare workers based on the law now) but if we amend this to include both public and private, the private sector will receive the same amount as what the public will receive)," she added.
On the other hand, Vergeire bared that they are also pushing for a law based on their experience during this pandemic and based on what's happening in the country right now, that there is really this migration of healthcare workers.
She said that they are pushing for a bill on salary standardization for health human resources both for the public and the private sector, both for the national and the local health sector.
Through this, she said that there will no longer be a differentiation as to the salaries between the public and the private; the national and the local.
"Whatever a health worker will receive from the public sector dapat mapapantayan na rin yan ng (should be reached by the) private sector ayon dito sa pinapanukala na bill para maipasa sa kongreso at sa senado (according to this bill once it gets passed into law in the congress and senate)," she said.