By Patricia Bermudez
CALAMBA CITY, Laguna —The Department of Health (DOH) in Calabarzon has reaffirmed its commitment to fill in the gaps in the region’s healthcare sector by providing physicians in every municipality, a feat that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. noted in his fourth State of the Nation Address on Monday, July 28.
In his annual report, Marcos Jr. noted the health department’s successful bid in ensuring the equitable deployment of physicians and other allied healthcare professionals.
“Nasisiyahan ako na makapag-report na sa kauna-unahang pagkakataon, ang bawat bayan po sa Pilipinas ngayon ay may doktor. Mayroon nang magiging tagapag-alaga – mayroon ng tagapag-alaga ng kalusugan ng mamamayan sa inyong lugar.”
In 2024, the region’s population was logged at 16,933,234 according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA)–the highest in the entire country.
Dr. Emy Perez, Planning and Statistics section head of DOH CALABARZON, said the public health sector is still short on health workers when compared to the patients’ needs.
“Based on the standard ratio needed for us to determine if there are enough health workers in the region, our health workers are still not enough.”
Citing data on healthcare standards and the Department of Budget and Management’s (DBM) Program Expenditure Classification (PREXC Indicators), Perez noted that the region’s public health sector is still short of 375 physicians. Moreover, government healthcare systems are lacking around 3,401 nurses and 4,568 midwives to deliver healthcare services at various levels.
However, the health department continues to address these shortages through the National Health Workforce Support System (NHWSS), which provided the region with 1,593 additional healthcare workers, including medical technologists, pharmacists, dentists, and nutritionists-dietitians.
“The National Health Workforce Support System aims to provide health worker augmentation to local government units to ensure equal distribution of health workers in the country and to bring our services closer, especially to Geographically Isolated and Disadvantaged Areas (GIDA) in the country.”
While the DOH CALABARZON is still strengthening its pool of healthcare professionals, construction and rehabilitation of government facilities are in full swing under the Health Facilities Enhancement Program (HFEP).
Since 2022, DOH CALABARZON has spent around Php 1,738,076,140 for the construction and rehabilitation of 89 healthcare facilities and public hospitals in the region.
