Due to lack of doctors
TACLOBAN CITY – The Eastern Visayas Medical Center (EVMC), the region’s largest public hospital, is stepping up efforts to retain its medical staff amid a nationwide shortage of doctors in government health facilities.
EVMC Medical Center Chief Dr. Joseph Michael Jaro said the hospital is implementing measures to make salaries more competitive and create a supportive work environment to attract and keep physicians.
“We have a long waiting list of nurses, med techs, and rad techs, but no long list of doctors. At times, we even have to plead for them to work with us,” Dr. Jaro admitted.
He attributed the scarcity to the lengthy and expensive path to becoming a doctor—often requiring 10 years of education and training, with costs running into hundreds of thousands of pesos excluding living expenses and exam fees.
“This is the greatest threat not only for EVMC, it’s also nationwide,” he added.
Although some local governments offer medical scholarships, Jaro said these efforts fall short of addressing the growing demand. Without urgent intervention, he warned that rural and public hospitals will face severe shortages in the coming years.
To ease the workload and enhance healthcare delivery, EVMC is investing heavily in technology, allotting P150 million for IT system upgrades, P198 million for integrated cardiac monitoring, and P36.8 million for infusion pump systems.
These improvements aim to improve efficiency and reduce the strain on its limited medical workforce.
EVMC, a 1,500-bed capacity hospital, serves as the primary referral facility in Eastern Visayas, handling thousands of patients monthly.
Its modernization plans form part of a broader strategy to cope with rising healthcare demands while encouraging future generations to pursue medicine as a vocation.
ROEL T. AMAZONA
