ILOILO – Cong. Michael Gorriceta of the 2nd District urged the Department of Health (DOH) Region 6 to investigate the issues hounding Western Visayas Sanitarium and General Hospital (WVSGH) in Barangay Inangayan, Santa Barbara town.
Among others, he cited the delayed salaries and unreleased benefits of hospital employees.
Gorriceta authored Republic Act (RA) 11723 that converted the Western Visayas Sanitarium into a general hospital. Then President Rodrigo Duterte signed RA 11723 on April 29, 2022.
He also asked DOH regional director Adriano P. Suba-an to look into WVSGH’s policies, management of employees, even the services being offered.
Gorriceta also alerted DOH officer-in-charge, secretary Rosario Vergeire. The complaints of from hospital employees – majority of whom were his constituents in the 2nd District – came to his attention as early as the second quarter of 2022.
The congressman also sought solutions regarding the issues of reapplications, in which it was alleged that some renewals of contracts were rejected despite satisfactory evaluation ratings. He actually called out DOH-6 about these back in June 15, 2022 yet.
“I indicated the concerns of the healthcare workers who have yet to receive their long-overdue benefits such as the One COVID Allowance (OCA) and have sought its immediate release,” read part of the letter.
Later on Sept. 8, 2022, during a courtesy meeting, Gorriceta also relayed the concern directly to Suba-an.
“These issues were seen to have not been resolved even after more than six months of lobbying for their resolution, and up until now, I have received contentious complaints from my constituents, not only regarding the delay of employee salaries and benefits but also regarding the insufficient services and procedures of the said hospital,” the letter further read.
“If these concerns continue without intervention, the health care delivery system and the hospital’s services would be greatly compromised, most specifically for the people who are relying on its services. If these persist, we cannot fully achieve the patient services and offer the advanced health are goal that we are eyeing to reach,” according to Gorriceta.
In an exclusive interview of Panay News, WVSGH medical center chief, Dr. Judy Ann Dumayas denied that the salaries of their personnel were not released on time.
The hospital has 172 plantilla personnel and 255 contract of service (CoS) workers composed of doctors, nurses, midwives, nursing aids, medical technologists, staff, security, maintenance, and housekeeping, among others.
Dumayas explained that CoS must submit their daily time records (DTRs), statements of account, and monthly reports of accomplishments before their salaries could be released.
For example, she said, their salaries for November 2022 were already released on Dec. 26, 2022, while their December 2022 salaries will be released on the second to third week of January 2023.
This flow of salary processing for CoS workers is practiced not just in WVSGH but also in other government offices as well, stressed Dumayas.
“Once the documentation is complete, second to third week of January. Amo na usual nga sweldohanay bisan diin ka nga agency. Kon contract of service ka, you were hired for a reason so you have to show your performance,” she added.
Dumayas also said the hospital’s executive committee tried to rush the release of the December 2022 salary before Christmas Day but it was only released on Dec. 26.
The budget for plantilla employees is provided by the national government through the DOH, while the hospital’s generated income covers the CoS, she added.
Dumayas insisted that the releasing of salaries has in fact improved since she assumed as WVSGH’s medical center chief in 2018.
She issued the clarification in the wake of a viral Facebook post by Moika Arana Arguelles, a former operating room nurse at WVSGH, complaining that the salaries of WVSGH personnel were always delayed, and following a “silent protest” of not more than 15 plantilla personnel and seven CoS personnel during the recent visit to the hospital of Department of Health (DOH) undersecretary Camilo Cascolan.
“Last December 22, 2022, some of our hospital employees organized a picket/silent protest, the same day as the undersecretary of health visited the institution. Out of curiosity, I visited the hospital to witness the said silent protest on my day off. I took photos and posted my sentiments about their cause aka our salaries that have been delayed for a maximum of three months for years now and benefits which already had allotted budgets but has not been given to us.”
Dumayas also revealed that the contracts of 255 WVSGH CoS employees expired on Dec. 31, 2022. And of those, 22 contracts were not renewed for 2023.
“End of contract was Dec. 31, 2022 so they have to reapply because we have to rehire, ma-rehire gid sila, but not really a renewal nga masugpon lang sila sang ila contract. They should apply. They will be reassessed and they will be rehired kon nami man ang performance nila,” explained Dumayas.
Of the 22 CoS, including Arguelles, the medical center chief said most opted to resign for health reasons, take a break, or look for another job. There were some, too, who were not rehired for failing the performance evaluation.
In a Facebook post, Arguelles stated: “I have worked there as a contract of service employee for three years. Despite knowing that we dont have security of tenure and that they could just terminate us in their discretion and even without a justifiable cause, daw indi man insakto nga gulpi lang timo hulugon sa lista without any notice (sic).”/PN
