DESPITE the resignation of some employees amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic, Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC) assured that it is giving its all-out support to their personnel to boost their morale.
“High morale ang mga frontliners naming. ‘Yong nag-resign, actually others ayaw mag resign, but because of their family, parents, and husband’s request so wala silang magawa. For the record, wala pang nag resign due to burnt out and fear (Morale is still high among our frontliners. Actually, those who resigned did not want to leave but since it was upon the request of their families, they were not able to do much about it. For the record, no one has resigned due to being burnt out or fear),” SPMC medical professional staff chief Dr. Ricardo Audan said.
In an earlier virtual presser, Audan said that there are at least six nurses who quit from March to April upon the request of their family members because of the risk associated with their job.
For almost three months, there has been an increasing number of Covid-19 positive patients admitted to SPMC, which is identified as the Covid-19 referral center. As of May 26, there are already a total of 28 SPMC personnel who tested positive for the viral disease.
Given the daunting task of the frontliners in the wake of a health crisis, Audan said they have provided the hospital employees with psychosocial support, personal protective equipment (PPE), free transportation through the deployment of buses, accommodation, spiritual guidance, and vitamins to keep them in good shape.
Audan further said they also prioritize their frontliners for swab testing. At SPMC, they have already tested a total of 1,661 hospital employees as of May 21 and 1,247 of these already have results while the remaining 414, their results are still pending.
“We allow them to have three days of duty, three days off for nurses. For doctors, 7 days duty and 14 days quarantine,” Audan said.
With the increasing cases in Davao City, SPMC has hired new personnel to augment the vacant positions and increase their manpower resources to accommodate more patients.
“We provide them hazard pay. Taas ang morale sa SPMC. In fact, daghan jud nangapply (Morale is high in SPMC. In fact, we have a lot of applicants),” Audan said.
In the coming days, the city government of Davao is expecting a surge of Covid-19 cases as the city continues to be under general community quarantine, which allows more movement of people.
As of May 30, 2020, Department of Health in Davao Region has recorded a total of 345 cases wherein 138 have recovered and 30 have died.