Gullas lauds PhilHealth for giving nurses employment

CEBU, Philippines - Cebu first district Rep. Eduardo Gullas lauded the state-run Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) for giving merit to nurses, the nation’s second largest group of professionals after teachers.

“We laud PhilHealth under its chairman, Secretary of Health Enrique Ona, and president, Dr. Eduardo Banzon, for bestowing greater merit to our nurses,” said Gullas, a ranking member of Congress.

Gullas, a member of the bicameral Commission on Appointments, was responding to PhilHealth’s plan to change registered nurses’ careers as PhilHealth customer care personnel with a P15,000 salary and health insurance coverage.

Gullas is also president of the University of the Visayas, one of the largest producers of nursing graduates in Cebu.

He pointed out that while P15,000 is not exceptionally large, it is nonetheless much higher that the P10,000 monthly stipend offered by the RN for Health Enchantment and Local Service, or RN Heals.

RN Heals is a national government project that deploys nurses to the provinces to reinforce the staff of public hospitals and provide extra health care services to depressed communities.

PhilHealth will set out in March at least 530 jobless nurses who have decided to change careers as PhilHealth customer care personnel under its Customer Assistance, Relations and Empowerment Staff (CARES) program.

These nurses, who will be enlisted and trained separately by PhilHealth, are expected to provide “personalized customer care” to PhilHealth members and dependents in hospital where they seek treatment.

The Nursing Law of 2002, or Republic Act 0173, sets the minimum pay of government nurses at Salary Grade 15 which corresponds to a monthly rate of at least P22,688. Due to lack of funds however, government has not put this provision of the law into action.

The country’s large oversupply of nurses has contributed to the downward pressure on their wages, according to labor market analysts.

The Professional Regulation Commission estimates at 300,000 the country’s unemployed nurses so that incoming college students are urged to avoid taking up nursing. – Niña G. Sumacot/LPM (THE FREEMAN)