Today, the Board of Regents will vote on who will be the new director of Philippine General Hospital. The Alliance of Health Workers (AHW) calls upon the University of the Philippines Board of Regents (UP-BOR) to select a deserving PGH director who embodies the values of compassion, support for health workers welfare, pro-people and one who stands against privatization of public hospitals and prioritizing health over profit.
AHW urges the BOR to consider a PGH director who has an excellent track record on good governance, accountability and integrity, and one who will wholeheartedly serve the people. We strongly reject a PGH Director who abuses power and implements an anti-health worker and anti-patients’ policy.
PGH, also known as “ospital ng bayan”, a premier tertiary-care government hospital in the country, mandated to provide basic and specialized health services to the public. It plays a crucial role in providing accessible and quality health services to the Filipino people.
The pandemic may be over, but the suffering of health workers and patients continues. The number of patients lining up at the out-patient-department and emergency room in PGH has more than tripled. Doctors are faced with an overwhelming number of patients, often working nearly 70 hours a week, when the standard should be just 40 hours. Meanwhile, nurses and other health workers are forced to extend their shifts from 8 to 16 hours due to a shortage of personnel.
Despite the widespread and ongoing calls from the health workers’ union at PGH for mass hiring, the previous PGH administration under Dr. Gerardo Legaspi’s leadership remained silent and unresponsive to these issues.
AHW believes that the next director must be attentive and responsive to the issues and concerns of health workers, who will address the chronic understaffing and contractualization among health personnel as these are the obstacles in providing quality health care to the patients.
Whoever is appointed as the PGH director, rest assured that we, the health workers, will unwaveringly remain in our strong advocacy in protecting the interest and welfare of the health workers and the patients we served. Steadfast in advancing our economic well-being and democratic rights and will always be determined to promote the people’s right to quality health care. #
