A key health official in Negros Oriental is appealing for nurses to sign up with the provincial government and private hospitals to help in the fight against the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) in the province.
Assistant Provincial Health Officer Dr. Liland Estacion, in a virtual presser late Tuesday afternoon, said there are vacancies in all public and private hospitals here but there are no takers.
“I appeal to you, please, do it not just for the money. Do it out of love for the people and because we need you. I hope you have the heart to serve the constituents of Negros Oriental,” she said in mixed English and Cebuano dialect.
Estacion, Covid-19 incident commander of the province’s Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID), said they understand the risks that nurses face each day but what they do “God will reward them”.
She was referring to registered nurses here who are taking on other better-paying jobs, such as with call centers but did not give specific numbers as to how many additional nurses are needed in the different hospitals.
“I have asked the deans of different nursing schools and colleges here to help us but nobody has responded,” she said.
The appeal for more nurses is made as Negros Oriental continues to grapple with its third surge of cases of Covid-19.
As of Oct. 26, records at the Provincial Health Office (PHO) showed a 91 percent overall Covid-19 isolation bed occupancy rate in both public and private hospitals.
Negros Oriental Provincial Hospital logged 88 percent; Silliman University Medical Center, 90 percent; Holy Child Hospital, 95 percent; ACE Dumaguete Doctors Hospital, 110 percent; Negros Polymedic Hospital, 95 percent; Bayawan District Hospital, 73 percent; Guihulngan District Hospital, 100 percent; Siaton District Hospital, 75 percent; and Bais District Hospital, 92 percent.
The province is currently under Alert Level 4 status, the second-highest alert level, and is considered “high risk” with rising cases and increasing utilization rates of Covid-19 isolation beds.
Source: Philippines News Agency
