DOH HRH Deployment Program 2022 gets P17-billion, to hire over 23,000 health workers

The DOH HRH Deployment Program will continue to hire nurses and other health care workers to serve in the communities in 2022. 

The Human Resource for Health (HRH) Program of the Departmet of Health (DOH) is the thrust of the government to deploy, redistribute, and retain health workers in the country to enhance access to quality health services. Priority areas are far-flung, geographically-isolated, disadvantaged, and remote communities with inadequate health personnel. 

In a Senate hearing for 2022 national budget, it was revealed that the DOH HRH Program will get a total funding of P17 billion. This will be used for the recruitment and deployment of 23,364 health workers composed of nurses, doctors, midwives, medical technologists, dentists, physical therapists, pharmacists, and nutritionists. 

Initially, the Lower House cut the number of health workers to 22,271 but the Senate reverted it to the same number of personnel this year. That means 744 Doctors, 16,675 Nurses, 4,538 Midwives, 222 Dentists, 303 Pharmacists, 200 Nutritionist Dietitians, 601 Medical Technologists, and 81 Physical Therapists will be hired.

   

Basically, it will be just rehiring of those who are currently deployed, and filling up slots of those who chose not to continue. 

The hiring of these health workers will be under Personnel Services - Contractual arrangement. 

"For contractual employees, they get all the benefits of regular [employees] but there's just no security of tenure, that's why they fall under PS-Contractual," Senator Pia Cayetano, sponsor of DOH budget, explained. "So their deployment is temporary."

HRH workers will not to be regularized under DOH

During the interpellation, Senator Ralph Recto questioned why HRH workers are not hired permanently. 

"The population is increasing, kulang tayo ng doctor, kulang tayo ng medtechs, kulang tayo ng nurses. Bakit temporary lang?" he asked. 

 DOH answered through Cayetano that ideally, it is up to local government units (LGUs) to hire them permanently. 

"These professionals are being deployed to the LGUs because DOH acknowledges the need of those LGUs. But ideally, it would be the LGUs that will be hiring them permanently. The model really is for the LGU to see how much better they can provide health services with these professionals and ideally hire them after a year or two," Cayetano explained. 

That will probably happen when Mandanas ruling and full devolution of health care services to the LGUs will be implemented. 

"I did propose a bill on the Mandanas ruling that the windfall that LGUs will get could be utilized for Build, Build, Build, mandated spending and health care," Recto added. 

Currently, DOH HRH hiring is done by regional offices and some have started the recruitment as early as November. So if you are interested to apply as a DOH HRH worker for 2022, please contact and inquire about it in your DOH Regional Offices and Provincial Health Offices nationwide.