Cebu City Health needs supplemental approved to hire more doctors, nurses

Vaccination in Cebu City. | Delta Letigio

CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Cebu City Health Department (CHD) is banking on the approval of the P206 million budget they have proposed to the City Council’s committee on budget and finance to be able to hire more medical professionals.

These medical professionals will be manning the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination sites that the city plans to open, a total of 21 sites all over the city.

Of the P206 million budget, they proposed, at least P60 million will be used to hire job-order doctors, nurses, nursing attendants, and administrative workers to man the sites.

Another allocation will be taken from the P300 million proposed budget of the Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CDRRMO) to fund the hiring.

The CHD targets at least 8 doctors per site, 90 nurses, a corresponding number of nursing attendants, and as per request of the City Council members, administrative assistants to assist the CHD in the encoding and documentation aspects of the vaccination program.

Doctor Jeffrey Ibones, the head of the CHD, said that they are hoping for the budgets to be approved because the mass vaccination program of the city is about to begin.

One of the major concerns why many sites have not yet been activated despite some establishments being willing to host the vaccination site is simply the lack of manpower.

If the City Council approves the budget both for the CHD and the CDRRMO, the future of the vaccination sites will be secured.

Aside from the hiring of job-order personnel, Ibones said they have also asked a budget of P70 million for medicines for the other illnesses of the public that may have been forgotten amid the chaos of the pandemic.

“Ang naa sa atong annual budget P430 million pero ang P400 million ana para sa COVID-19 vaccines so meaning ang atong budget ra gyod tawn kay P30 million for the entire year. Kulang kaayo,” said Ibones in a phone interview.

The doctor notes that CHD cannot only focus on the COVID-19 pandemic as other diseases are continuously being treated in the City Health as well.

The P70 million budget will hopefully fund the other vaccines for children, medicine for diabetic patients, and others.

The CHD hopes that the pandemic will have made the council realize the importance of the health and wellness in the city and approve the budgets that is necessary to get Cebu City out of the pandemic. /rcg