MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Health (DOH) said on Thursday, September 29, that the country needs 106,000 nurses both in public and private facilities and hospitals.

“We have a shortage or a gap of around 106,000 para mapunuan natin ‘yung mga facilities natin (so we could fill in the facilities) all over the country, both public and private,” DOH officer-in-charge Maria Rosario Vergeire said in a press briefing.

The health official urged Filipino health workers to apply for the positions and coordinate with the DOH’s Human Resources Bureau to process their documents.

“Nananawagan po tayo sa ating mga kababayan na our nurses here in the country, midwives in the country, our dentists, and other healthcare professionals, meron tayong vacant na plantilla positions para ma-hire namin kayo,” Vergeire said.

(We’re calling on our nurses here in the country, midwives, dentists, and other healthcare professionals, we have vacant plantilla positions, we can hire you.)

Vergeire said that one of the reasons why the country lacks health workers is migration. She said the DOH wanted to maintain the 7,500 yearly deployment cap.

“Isa po ito sa mga dahilan kung bakit nagkukulang ang mga healthcare workers dito sa ating bansa, specifically doon sa ating mga facilities (This is one of the reasons why we lack healthcare workers here in the country, specifically in government facilities). This is because of the migration of our healthcare workers,” she said.

At the height of the pandemic in 2021, various hospitals had been hit by resignations, aggravating a shortage of manpower and exposing once more the plight of health workers in the Philippines.

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