MEDICAL frontliners resigned from the Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC) due to personal reasons and not due to coronavirus disease (Covid-19), the hospital management said.
As the number of Covid-19 cases in Davao City continues to increase, SPMC Officer-in-charge Dr. Ricardo Audan said some of their medical frontliners have also decided to leave their work in the hospital.
He, however, said this is due to personal reasons and not necessarily because of Covid-19.
“We started with six and ngayon nadagdagan ng five so 11 na (ang nag-resign) but when we reviewed their exit reasons, it’s more really of their family, more of their children. It’s more really the plea of their husbands and their parents,” Audan told reporters on the virtual presser on August 7, 2020, with the Department of Health Davao Region (DOH-Davao).
He added that as of June 25 to present, the hospital was already able to hire an additional 32 nurses, however, they are still open to applications. Specifically, they are trying to fill up the slots for 60 more nurses.
In an earlier statement by Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, she said the decision of the medical frontliners to leave their job amid the pandemic is totally understandable.
“They are within the rights to resign. We will not judge them. It is perfectly normal in a situation such as Covid-19 pandemic,” she said.
In this same virtual presser Friday, Audan also said the total number of frontliners in SPMC who have been infected with the virus had already reached 131, as of August 6, 2020. Out of this number, 34 are doctors, 46 are nurses, 21 are nursing attendants, three are midwives, one radiology technologist, one physical therapist, three are respiratory therapists, five are medical technologists, three are pharmacists, four from the housekeeping departments, while the other 10 are other staff in the hospital.
However, of the 131 cases, 101 have already been discharged and only 27 are still admitted. Three of them have already died.
Audan said they have released an internal memo within the hospital strictly imposing the mandatory wearing of face masks and face shields inside hospital premises.