THE proposed creation of a Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) was borne out of the country’s experience during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, the Department of Health said yesterday.
DOH officer-in-charge Maria Rosario Vergeire said having a pool of medical professionals is necessary in the event of another health crisis.
“This MRC was thought of because of our learnings during this pandemic. We saw during this pandemic how much shortage we have in health workers. We don’t want a repeat of that,” said Vergeire in an interview late Tuesday.
“This is part of us being resilient. This is part of the country being prepared if and when the country will have another pandemic,” she said, adding that having a pool of medical personnel will enable the national government to better handle health emergencies.
During his State of the Nation Address (SONA), President Marcos Jr. pushed for a law that shall establish a Medical Reserve Corps, which will be under the DOH.
The MRC, Marcos said, shall be composed of licensed physicians, medical students that have completed their four years of medical course, graduates of medicine, registered nurses, and licensed allied health professionals.
Meanwhile, while a pool of medical personnel is being eyed, a former president of the Philippine Medical Association (PMA) urged the Marcos administration to also look into raising the salaries of healthcare workers (HCWs) in the country, especially in geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas (GIDAs).
In a televised public briefing, former PMA president Dr. Benito Atienza said it is imperative for the government to increase HCW wages to entice them to stay in the country instead of heading overseas.
“The real problem is the shortage in doctors, nurses, med techs. That’s why we have been proposing that salaries be increased,” he said, adding: “We hope that the wages are increased and include several benefits for those going to GIDAs.”
The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration had previously imposed a deployment cap for healthcare workers at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure a steady supply of medical frontliners in the country.
