Health workers weigh in on next PGH chief

THE Alliance of Health Workers (AHW) on Thursday called on the Board of Regents of the University of the Philippines (UP) to choose a director for the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) who supports the welfare of health care workers and is against the privatization of public hospitals. The group issued the statement on Thursday as the board starts looking for the next PGH chief. It said the next PGH director must have "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." The group said the next director of the ospital ng bayan (nation's hospital) 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." AHW chided the PGH administration of Dr. Gerardo Legaspi for being "silent and unresponsive" to issues. "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," the group said.