Two other nurses hired by SEAS who are on vacation in the Philippines are expected to arrive today.
The two are expected to report back to work because “they were not involved in the arrangement of the seven nurses who stopped reporting to the center,” Variety was told.
Only the three nurses directly hired by the central government are still with the health center.
Deployment
Yesterday, the Commonwealth Health Center sent three of its nurses to Rota, April Ricota, CHC director of nursing, declined to be interviewed while Public Health Secretary Joseph Kevin Villagomez was not available for comment yesterday.
A source said the three nurses will work at the Rota Health Center for a week.
Another source said the seven nurses on Rota are willing to work again if they are given a new contract.
The nurses received their salary last payday, getting $4.55 an hour, equivalent to the CNMI’s minimum wage rate, as partial payment.
Under their contract with SEAS, which has yet to be paid by the government, the nurses get $8.93 or $9.20 an hour,
The nurses directly hired by the government receive $16 to $18 an hour, or more.
Expire
Last week, Gov. Benigno R. Fitial declared another state of emergency, this time to allow the reprogramming of funds to address the nursing crisis on Rota and Tinian.
The governor’s declaration will also “stay” the recent order of the Labor Department which revoked the working permits issued to SEAS.
Based on records, SEAS employs 21 foreign nurses assigned to the Rota and Tinian Health Centers.
Variety was told that most of the contracts of the nurses on Rota expired in June or will expire this month.
Efren Atalig, chief of staff of the Rota mayor’s office, said he was not aware that the nurses had stopped working at the health center.
But he said he knew that those nurses were asking for a new contract.
He said Mayor Melchor Mendiola will meet with the governor to discuss the nursing crisis on Rota.
The mayor was not available for comment. His wife Estrella said the mayor had a “very hectic schedule” yesterday.
Mendiola earlier asked the central government to directly hire the Rota nurses.
Atalig said they have a contingency plan to avoid the disruption of basic health services at the center.
He said the three directly hired nurses will work on a rotation basis.
The center also has two nursing assistants, he added.
“But we need to find a permanent solution because we don’t want to overburden those nurses,” Atalig said.
