SOUTHERN Philippines Medical Center (SPMC) issued a memorandum circular mandating its unvaccinated employees to undergo weekly swab testing as 1.17 percent of their total employees are still unvaccinated.
SPMC Chief Dr. Ricardo Audan said in a virtual presser on Friday, November 5, that 67 out of the 5,686 employees are not yet vaccinated.
Audan said some of their employees were not yet vaccinated as they are still under maternity leave, while some are still resistant to getting vaccinated due to religious beliefs.
To protect their employees, the official said he issued a memo, beginning November 9, compelling unvaccinated employees to undergo reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) every week.
Those who will test positive will be subjected to isolation.
He said the hospital will shoulder the expense for the swab test only until the end of the year, and that they will be paying for it starting next year.
Audan emphasized that health workers must be protected by having themselves vaccinated.
He also said they are contemplating following the executive order (EO) of the Davao City Government, requiring all its employees to be vaccinated, or else, they will not be prioritized in the hiring next year.
The City Government issued EO 45 mandating all of its employees until November 30, 2021 to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19.
Plantilla personnel who refuse to undergo vaccination will be held administratively liable for insubordination and will be penalized by suspension of one month and one day to six months for the first offense; and dismissal from the service for the second offense, pursuant to Section 50 (d) of the 2017 Rules on Administrative Cases In The Civil Service (2017 RACCS).
For job orders, contract of service, and volunteers, the City Government will prioritize hiring those who are fully vaccinated.
