DOH Usec. Tong-An clarifies statement on NDP nurses regularization

Department of Health (DOH) Undersecretary Roger Tong-An issued an official statement clarifying his announcement regarding the regularization of Nurse Deployment Project (NDP) nurses.

Tong-An revealed during the Philippine Nurses Association (PNA) National Convention 2016 that the DOH has a plan to regularize nurses in the future, "as part of agency's efforts to stop contractual employees in the bureaucracy."

Nurses in social media thought that the implementation would be immediate, with some expecting that it will happen next year 2017.

But the first nurse selected as DOH undersecretary clarified that implementation will take some time.

"The DOH has set a target within three years when a substantial number of nurses are given decent work in the health sector on a full time basis," he said.

He also made clarifications on the nurse managers taking over the job of doctors as municipal health officers (MHO). Here's his full statement as posted in Facebook:

I am clarifying an announcement I made during the convention of Philippine Nurses Associatio (PNA), one of the largest nursing organization in the country. This is in relation to the Department of Health's (DOH) plans to regularize these nurses as part of agency's efforts to stop contractual employees in the bureaucracy. This will take sometime not immediately as it was interpreted in social media postings. The DOH has set a target within three years when a substantial number of nurses are given decent work in the health sector on a full time basis.

In the same conference, I also announced future plans for nurse managers who will eventually replace municipal health officers (MHOs) in managing local government unit health programs in rural health units with MHOs focusing on patient care. This is to attract a new cadre of public health professionals who will champion public health at the grassroots. This merits further study and serious dialogue with many health professionals so that their roles are clarified. If this is feasible and acceptable then an enabling law may be needed for this to become reality.

Nurses, what's your thoughts on this recent announcement by Usec. Tong-An? You may comment below.