The Department of Migrant Workers and the Philippine General Hospital on Wednesday inked a partnership to bring more health services to the country’s Overseas Filipino Workers through OFW Hospital in San Fernando, Pampanga.
DMW Secretary Susan Ople and PGH Director Dr. Gerardo Legaspi led the signing of the Memorandum of Agreement for the hospital’s technical training for the medical staff of the seven-storey, 102-bed capacity OFW Hospital.
“The OFW Hospital will soon provide the gold standard in pre-employment medical services. We will set the right standards and show how it should be done,” Ople said in a speech on Wednesday.
The hospital opened its doors May last year, with full operations ensuing two months later. It is currently under the Department of Migrant Workers, taking over duties from the Department of Labor and Employment after the former was created under former President Rodrigo Duterte’s term.
PGH previously partnered with DOLE for the clinical and managerial training and acquisition of medical equipment.
However, it faced challenges particularly with the staffing of nurses as Dr. Jose Dante Dator disclosed last year that the nurses in the hospital were grabbing other opportunities abroad with higher pay.
Ople on Thursday also shared that more than 11,000 patients have availed services in the OFW Hospital since the opening of the facility last year, including 15 minor surgeries and two births, with one baby delivered just this month.
DMW aims to acquire Magnetic Resonance Imaging or MRI and digital mammography equipment for this year, as well as offering hemodialysis and expanded cardiology services.