DOH seeks incentive program as majority of nurses go abroad for employment

ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt=" The female dressing room of the endoscopy unit at the Quirino Memorial Medical Center on May 8, 2020. Gigie Cruz, ABS-CBN News/File" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/life/12/14/20200508-qmmc-health-worker-moms-gcs-0218-sel.jpg"/><figcaption>The female dressing room of the endoscopy unit at the Quirino Memorial Medical Center on May 8, 2020. <em>Gigie Cruz, ABS-CBN News/File</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>MANILA — The Department of Health (DOH) is looking at an &quot;incentive program&quot; from other countries to help the local health sector address brain drain, an official said Tuesday. </p><p>Less than half of Filipino nurses stay and work in the Philippines, DOH officer-in-charge Maria Rosario Vergeir said, amid continued migration of healthcare workers to other countries.</p><p>&quot;We are seeing this trend na mukhang magtutuloy-tuloy. That&#x27;s why we would like an incentive program [with other countries],&quot; she told ANC&#x27;s &quot;Headstart.&quot;</p><p>&quot;You get our nurses? You give us scholarships so that we can train our people and have expertise and bring them back here,&quot; she added.</p><p>Vergeire said DOH knows the reality that more than half of Filipino nurses seek work abroad or other career opportunities.</p><p>&quot;Out of all those produced for the country, about only 30-40 percent stay and work for us,&quot; she said. </p><p>&quot;Sixty percent of what we produced are going [abroad or] leaving us. Maybe there&#x27;s another 20 percent staying and working in another profession,&quot; she added.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/01/23/23/pirating-of-pinoy-nursing-students-alarming-group">&#x27;Pirating&#x27; of Filipino nursing students alarming - group</a></li></ul><p>In the Philippines, private hospitals pay their nurses between P9,000 and P15,000, the Philippine Nurses Association earlier said. Meanwhile, entry-level nurses in public hospitals start with a monthly salary of P33,000.</p><p>In a past press briefing, Vergeire said the Philippine government could not prevent healthcare workers from leaving the country &quot;because that’s their right to find more productive and bigger pay.&quot;</p><p>The DOH has proposed to Congress to standardize the salaries of nurses in public and private hospitals.</p><p>The agency also eyes improving the benefits of healthcare workers and providing more scholarships.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/09/16/22/amendments-to-magna-carta-of-public-health-workers-sought">Amendments to Magna Carta of Public Health Workers sought</a></li></ul><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=2442469" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div><div> </div>

Vergeire said DOH knows the reality that more than half of Filipino nurses seek work abroad or other career opportunities.

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DOH seeks incentive program as majority of nurses go abroad for employment

DOH seeks incentive program as majority of nurses go abroad for employment

ABS-CBN News

Published Jan 31, 2023 05:42 PM PHT

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health

Department of Health

DOH

nurses

healthcare workers

migration

Maria Rosario Vergeire

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