DOH to hire 23,364 health workers under HRH program in 2021

The Department of Health (DOH) is looking to hire over 23,000 health workers under the Human Resource for Health Deployment Program (HRHDP) in 2021.

In a 2021 President’s Budget Message dated August 25 addressed to Congress together with the submission of the national budget for next year, President Rodrigo Duterte said that supporting the HRH Program is one of the ‘Key Budget Priorities’ of his administration.

The program will get a bigger P16.6 billion budget next year.

“The Human Resource for Health (HRH) Program, which deploys doctors, nurses, and other health professionals to disadvantage communities, and national and private hospitals during this pandemic, is allotted Php16.6 billion, an even larger amount than the Php 10.0 billion budgeted for this year. Of this amount, Php15.7 billion will be used to pay for the salaries and allowances of health workers while some Php842 million will support its medical scholarship program,” Duterte said in his message.

“The Php6.6 billion, or a 39.8 percent increase in the HRH budget is a testament to the Administration’s resolve to ensure that the medical needs of every Filipino are addressed as we struggle to rebound from the health emergency.”

“This budget will make possible the hiring of 23,364 health workers,” the President added.

To ensure the safety of the health workers, Duterte said that the government has allocated Php2.7 billion for the procurement of more than two million sets of personal protective equipment (PPE) for hospitals, laboratories, and regional swabbers.

Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has submitted the National Expenditure Program for the proposed Php4.506 trillion 2021 national budget to Congress last Tuesday for scrutiny.

Themed as “Reset, Rebound, and Recover: Investing for Resiliency and Sustainability”, next year’s budget will focus on containing the spread and mitigating the effects of the virus while restarting the economy to help the nation reset, rebound, and recover from the crisis.