The provincial government of Northern Samar will absorb nurses in the province who will not be rehired under the Nurses Deployment Program of the Department of Health (DOH) this year.

In a statement on Saturday, Governor Edwin Marino Ongchuan said this was agreed upon during a meeting with the provincial health board after it reported that the DOH program will only rehire 250 nurses in the province for 2021, displacing 30 health workers deployed last year.

Ongchuan said five nurses have expressed intent not to renew their contract, while the remaining 25 will be employed by the provincial government on a contractual basis starting this month.

“Our nurses’ compassion, optimism, and kindness will not go unnoticed. In this trying time, the provincial government is here for them, just as they are with us at the frontline in battling the coronavirus pandemic since March 2020,” he added.

The DOH-NDP nurses are deployed in 24 rural health units that complement the delivery of health care services in the province’s eight district hospitals in the towns of Allen, Laoang, Gamay, Capul, San Antonio, Biri, San Vicente, and Catubig, and the Northern Samar Provincial Hospital in Catarman town. (PNA)