ZAMBOANGA CITY (MindaNews/27 February) – The Department of Health (DOH) is hiring 691 health workers under its Registered Nurses for Health Enhancement and Local Service (RN-HEALS) Project and Rural Health Midwives Placement Program (RHMPP) 2012 in the Zamboanga Peninsula.
DOH Regional Director Dr. Aristides Tan said they will hire 511 nurses and 180 midwives who will be deployed in March to their respective assignments in the region.
Of the 511 nurses, 220 will be for Zamboanga del Sur, 205 for Zamboanga del Norte, 72 for Zamboanga Sibugay, eight for Zamboanga City and six for Isabela City, the capital of Basilan province, Tan said.
He added that of the 180 midwives, 76 will be for Zamboanga del Sur, 61 for Zamboanga del Norte, 41 for Zamboanga Sibugay and one each for Isabela and Zamboanga cities.
Tan said that nurses will work in the community for at least one year, and one of their duties is to validate who among the residents belong in the poorest of the poor for enrollment in the government’s health insurance program under the Philhealth.
He said hiring and selection will be done through panel interview with panelists from DOH, City Health Office, and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
He said those who will be hired would undergo a two-day orientation prior to their deployment in areas which will be determined by the DOH and DSWD.
Among the priority areas of assignment are those where many beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program or 4Ps reside and where Basic Emergency Maternal Obstetric Neonatal Care centers are situated, the official said.
Each of the nurses and midwives hired under program will receive a monthly stipend of P8,000 and P6,000, respectively, from the DOH and the local government unit where they will be deployed will provide an additional P2,000 monthly allowance.
The 691 health workers for Zamboanga Peninsula are part of the 10,000 nurses and 3,000 midwives to be hired by the DOH in the entire country for 2012 under the RN-HEALS and RHMPP.
The RN-HEALS and RHMPP are already on the third year of implementation by the DOH (MindaNews)