MANILA (Mindanao Examiner / Jan. 19, 2012) – The state-run Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) said it would recruit at least 600 nurses to provide “superior customer care” to its members and dependents seeking treatment in all accredited hospitals.
Philhealth president and chief executive officer Dr. Eduardo Banzon said the nurses would be employed as part of its so-called Customer Assistance, Relations and Empowerment Staff (CARES).
“The plan is to initially deploy the CARES nurses to all public hospitals, starting with the bigger ones. We are committed to look after every PhilHealth member and his or her qualified dependent,” Banzon said in a statement sent to the Mindanao Examiner.
He said the nurses would also be tasked to encourage non-members to enlist with PhilHealth, and facilitate payment of insurance premiums in the cashiering units of public hospitals.
“We will provide gainful employment to some of our idle nurses, while improving our customer care services, and fulfilling President Aquino’s hope and dream to provide complete health insurance to all Filipinos, rich and poor,” Banzon said.
The Professional Regulation Commission sees the number of totally unemployed Filipino nurses hitting 298,000 this year, to include the 68,000 who took the licensure examination in December.
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