THE Cebu Provincial Government is set to employ 839 medical and non-medical workers through outsourcing.
It was announced that the 16 provincial and district hospitals are expected to receive 443 medical personnel, while 396 workers would form part of the non-medical staff.
This move came after Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia announced that her administration would outsource the Capitol’s employees to cut costs and downsize the “overstaffed” health institutions in Cebu Province.
Outsourcing is the method of obtaining goods or services from an outside source in place of an internal source.
As a general rule, government agencies may avail themselves of outsourced services through institutional contract of service for a maximum period of one year. The transactions, though, are subject to the provisions set by Republic Act 9184 (the Government Procurement Act), including pertinent budgeting, accounting and auditing regulations.
According to Provincial General Services Office officer-in-charge and Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) vice chairman Bernard Calderon, the project has a total approved budget contract (ABC) of P277.68 million, which covers a year’s worth of services.
Of the amount, the Capitol has set aside P186.28 million and P91.39 million to cover the services of medical and non-medical personnel, respectively.
The medical personnel that the Province needs are 120 nurses, 108 medical officers, 83 nursing attendants, 32 laboratory aides, 25 medical technologists, 18 midwives, 18 medical laboratory technicians, 13 pharmacists, nine medical equipment technicians, nine dental aides, six medical specialists and two nutritionists.
Based on the ABC, an outsourced nurse’s monthly salary is P28,838.91. A medical specialist’s paycheck is set at P74,232.91 per month.
Garcia said the Province would be able to save around P31 million a month, or more than P360 million in a year by letting go of temporary hospital workers.
The Capitol used to pay P80,000 a month to every contract of service medical specialist, while a nurse employed as a job order worker got P30,000 a month.
For the non-medical staff, those that would be outsourced include 84 utility workers, 48 clerks, 44 agricultural technologists, 36 prison guards, 27 drivers and 21 cooks, among others.
“Actually, we can increase the number of outsourced personnel depending on the need. If the number of personnel goes over what is needed, then we can also decrease, depending also on the needs of the hospitals,” Calderon said.
The BAC has scheduled a pre-bid conference on the matter on Monday, July 29, 2019. The bidding proper has been set on Tuesday, Aug. 13. (RTF)