City to deploy 500 nurses in villages

THE City Government will deploy some 500 city-paid nurses to the different barangays in Davao City.

Mayor Sara Duterte said Saturday she has ordered City Health Officer Dr. Josephine Villafuerte to deploy the city-paid nurses who were assigned at the Southern Philippines Medical Center, formerly Davao Medical Center (DMC), to the barangays.

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"Dr. Villafuerte has agreed to this and starting this month this will be their assignments, that other than serving in DMC they would also go to the barangays. The format of the program of them gaining a one-year experience is still the same," Duterte said.

The mayor said his father, former mayor Rodrigo Duterte, started the program of hiring nurses paid by the City Government. The elder Duterte is currently serving as vice mayor.

Earlier, Mayor Duterte expressed dismay over the alleged complaints she has received in relation to the performance of the city-paid nurses.

"There have been complaints that the city-paid nurses are not listening to their superiors there in DMC because it's the city that's giving them their salary," Duterte said.

She said she already instructed Dr. Villafuerte to talk these nurses and remind them to improve their service to the public," Duterte said. (Jade C. Zaldivar)