Nurses in Cebu City private hospitals still waiting for financial assistance promised by gov’t
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Nurses in private hospitals here are hoping to receive the financial assistance promised to them by the Cebu City government last July.
“We would like unta to remind regarding sa promise of our Cebu City government, the promise of a financial assistance. Niabot naman gud og September and until karon wala gihapon nahatag,” said Joseph Stephen Descallar, the president of a nurses’ association in Cebu.
(We are already in September and until now, it hasn’t been given.)
The city government had promised to provide a total of P30,000 for the nurses assigned in Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) wards in private hospital for the months of June to August 2020 as a form of incentive for their service during the pandemic.
Read: Cebu City mulls P10K incentive for medical augmentation force
This would help the nurses in private hospitals as they are only earning half of what their counterparts in government-owned hospitals get.
Descallar said that the nurses really appreciate this assistance from the city government as it would cover the cost of their service with the additional hours they spent in the COVID-19 wards.
Read: Health care professionals in Cebu City private hospitals need assistance, says Cimatu
The nurses are contemplating whether they should write to Cebu City Mayor Edgardo Labella to remind the city government of this promise.
For his part, Labella said that the delay of the release of the aid is only due to the documentary requirements needed from the beneficiaries of the financial assistance.
This is the first time the city government would be providing financial aid to nurses, and so the process for the listing and verification of the beneficiaries will take some time.
The city government cannot skip the process because this is required by the Commission on Audit.
“Rest assured within the next few weeks we can start the distribution of the financial assistance,” said the mayor.
The mayor added that the target of the distribution is before the end of September. /bmjo
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