The Ministry of Health (MoH) has announced a plan to localize nursing jobs in all its medical facilities. In a circular to its administrative units, a copy of which Okaz/Saudi Gazette has obtained, the ministry indicated that contracts with foreign nurses who have completed 10 years of service will be terminated. But specialists in the fields of hemodialysis, emergency and ICU medicine — who cannot be immediately replaced by Saudis — will be retained. The localization plan does not apply to nurses working for primary healthcare centers in remote areas unless a capable Saudi replacement is found. An official source at the ministry said it has been made obligatory for administrative units to strictly abide by these guidelines. The ministry's plan ensures the replacement of foreign nurses gradually. It plans to localize 300 senior nursing jobs in the next three years. There is a highly trained Saudi generation capable of handling the nursing job, said a source. Nursing profession is heavily dominated by Filipinos both in the private and government sectors. There are approximately 133,000 Filipino nurses, about 90 percent of them female, who are currently working in government and private hospitals across the country. But now senior nurses are losing jobs. ‘Sagip Migrante', a monitoring and assistance campaign launched only Friday by Migrante chapters in Saudi Arabia recorded the termination of 39 Filipino workers from their jobs with the addition of six nurses working at the Saudi Ministry of Health. On July 14, Migrante-ME ‘Sagip Migrante' received reports that the services of 15 Filipino nurses working for a private hospital and five in the Ministry of Health in Jeddah were terminated. __
