US COVID-19 survivor receives $1.1 mn hospital bill

WASHINGTON - A 70-year-old American man who nearly died of COVID-19 has been billed a heart-stopping $1.1 million for his hospital expenses, the Seattle Times reported Saturday.

Michael Flor was admitted to a hospital in the northwestern city on March 4, and stayed for 62 days -- at one point coming so close to death that nurses held up the phone so his wife and children could say goodbye.

But he recovered and was discharged on May 5 to the cheers of nursing staff -- only to receive a 181-page bill totaling $1,122,501.04, he told the newspaper. 

That includes: $9,736 per day for the intensive care room, nearly $409,000 for its transformation into a sterile room for 42 days, $82,000 for the use of a ventilator for 29 days, and nearly $100,000 for two days when his prognosis was life-threatening.

Flor is covered by Medicare, a government insurance program for the elderly, and should not have to take out his wallet, according to the Times. 

But in a country where health care is among the most expensive in the world -- and the idea of socializing it remains hugely controversial -- he said he feels "guilty" knowing that taxpayers will bear much of the cost. 

"It was a million bucks to save my life, and of course I'd say that's money well-spent ... But I also know I might be the only one saying that," the Times quoted him as saying. 

A gigantic plan adopted by Congress to keep the American economy afloat through the coronavirus shutdowns includes a $100 million budget to compensate hospitals and private insurance companies that treated COVID-19 patients. 

Agence France-Presse

UK nurses celebrate easing of restrictions

NHS workers react at the Aintree University Hospital during the last day of the Clap for our Carers campaign on Thursday in support of the NHS, following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Liverpool, Britain. Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced an easing of restrictions as the number of COVID-19 cases continue to decrease after the United Kingdom had the most number of cases in Europe.

-reuters-

Hospital director dies in China's Wuhan, epicenter of coronavirus outbreak

BEIJING - The head of a leading hospital in China's central city of Wuhan, the epicenter of a coronavirus outbreak, died of the disease on Tuesday, state television said, becoming the second prominent Chinese doctor to have succumbed to the pathogen.

Liu Zhiming, the director of Wuhan Wuchang Hospital, died at 10:30 a.m., it said.

Earlier this month, millions in China mourned the death of Li Wenliang, a doctor who was previously reprimanded for issuing an early warning about the coronavirus.


Tens of thousands of medical workers have been fighting to contain the spread of the coronavirus, believed to have first surfaced in a seafood market in Wuhan, the capital of the central province of Hubei.

As in the case of Li's death, there was confusion on the Chinese internet about Liu's condition on Monday night.

On Monday night, the Communist Party propaganda department of the Hubei Health Commission wrote in a social media post that Liu had died.

But it said in a subsequent post that Liu was alive.

"According to Liu's relative, the hospital is still trying its best to rescue him," the commission said in the second post, adding that the previous misinformation was from a good friend of Liu who was not aware of the latest situation.

It has not posted any message since state television announced Liu's death on Tuesday morning.

Beijing was accused of covering up the full extent of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak in 2003. In the current coronavirus outbreak, Beijing has called for transparency.

A senior Chinese health official said on Friday that 1,716 health workers have been infected by the coronavirus and 6 of them have died.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

At least 11 dead in Brazil hospital blaze

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil—A fire erupted in a hospital in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro, leaving at least 11 people dead and forcing medical staff and desperate relatives to rescue patients from smoke-filled wards.

Hospital authorities said the blaze on Thursday evening was thought to have been caused by a short circuit in a generator, though the city mayor said sabotage could not be ruled out.

Firefighters battled the blaze at the private Badim hospital, near Rio's iconic Maracana World Cup football stadium, for several hours before extinguishing it.

Hospital director Fabio Santoro said Friday that 11 deaths had been confirmed and searches were still underway for one patient who had been reported missing. 

Emergency personnel searched through the burned-out building until the early hours of Friday to recover bodies.

The hospital said there had been 103 patients in the building when the fire broke out and that "more than 100 doctors were mobilized to bring help to the victims." Seventy-seven of them had been moved to other hospitals while 14 had been cleared to return to their homes.

During the evacuation, patients on gurneys and stretchers were carried into surrounding streets as ambulances struggled through crowds of curious onlookers to transport patients to other medical facilities.

"The doctor arrived in the room and told us that there was fire and that we had to evacuate as quickly as possible," 58-year-old Teresa Dias, who was visiting her father, told AFP.

"They put him on a wheelchair and tied him up to prevent him from falling out. There were a lot of other sick people on stretchers on the stairs."

Staff wheeled medical equipment outside, and the most seriously ill patients were taken at first to a nearby children's nursery.

Sheets tied together were seen hanging from hospital windows.

SMOKE SPREAD QUICKLY

"I was able to take my mother out of her room and when we got to the fire escape, there were a lot of people running around," lawyer Carlos Otorelo, whose 93-year-old mother is being treated for pneumonia, told the UOL news website.

"It was terrible because the smoke spread very quickly."

Other relatives were forced to wait outside for word on their loved ones as dense black fumes filled the sky.

"I heard the loud noise of glass breaking and thought it was shooting or a robbery when I heard screaming. I went downstairs to see what was happening and I saw a lot of smoke," said local resident Terezinha Machado, 76.

Hospital authorities said smoke spread to all floors of the building, and pointed to a generator in the oldest part of the complex as the probable cause of the fire.

Mayor Marcelo Crivella said investigators would probe whether the fire was an accident.

"Experts will have to find whether anyone was responsible. I hope I am wrong, but we have to check there was no sabotage, we have to investigate," he told reporters when visiting the hospital Friday.

The fire service said the premises had safety certificates.

Rio has been hit by 2 major fires in the past year, including when the National Museum was gutted by flames last September, destroying most of its priceless collections.

In February, 10 teenage members of the Flamengo football club were killed in the prefabricated building where they were staying. 

Faulty air conditioning systems were the cause of both fires.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Gunman kills 3 at Chicago hospital

CHICAGO - An argument in a hospital parking lot escalated into a shooting that killed three people, including a police officer, in the US city of Chicago on Monday.

The violence only ended when police engaged in a shootout with the gunman inside Mercy Hospital.

"We have 4 deceased individuals: police officer, 2 female staff employees at the hospital, and the offender," police Superintendent Eddie Johnson told journalists.

The shooter killed the first victim -- a woman who was in a "domestic relationship" with him -- during an argument in the parking lot, then fired at police when they got to the hospital, and ran inside, Johnson said.

Additional police -- including SWAT officers -- arrived at the scene, and "engaged the offender for several minutes in the hospital, with gunshots being fired by the offender and by the police," he said.

During the shootout, the gunman killed a second woman when she got off an elevator, Johnson said. The shooter also fatally wounded, but it was unclear if he killed himself or was killed by police.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel identified the two female victims as a doctor and a "pharmaceutical assistant."

Patients described being alarmed by the sound of gunshots outside Mercy Hospital and seeing a man apparently walking with a woman in the parking lot before shooting her three times in the chest.

"Once she fell to the ground, he stood over her and shot her three more times," bystander James Gray told reporters, adding that the attack played out "like a movie scene."

TV footage showed terrified patients and staff filing out of the hospital into a parking lot with their hands in the air after officers flooded the area.

'SCARED AS HELL' 

Patient Hector Avitia told the local CBS television affiliate he was with his wife waiting for test results when he saw a gunman dressed in black fire on someone on the ground several times in the parking lot.

"Then almost immediately, an officer was already coming in an SUV, and (the assailant) exchanged fire at them and then reloaded and shot the person on the ground again," another witness said.

"And then he made his way into the hospital and more shots were fired." 

The shooting followed a series of recent high-profile gun rampages that have fueled calls for reform of firearms regulations in a country plagued by gun violence.

Less than two weeks earlier, a gunman killed 12 people in a California music bar packed with college students.

That came after the worst anti-Semitic attack in modern US history, when a gunman opened fire on congregants at a synagogue in the US city of Pittsburgh on October 27.

Bypassers alerted to the latest incident spoke of hearing between six and nine gunshots that initially sounded like construction noise.

"I am scared as hell. I have never been so scared, I hear of shootings going on every day at people's workplaces, but not where I work at," an employee of the hospital's family clinic told the ABC affiliate.

Mercy, founded in 1852, has locations throughout Chicago and provides outpatient treatment and acute inpatient care, boasting doctors who are leaders in their field.

Another hospital employee quoted by the Chicago Tribune said she was in her office when a notice came over a public address system telling those in the hospital to lock their doors. 

"I don't know what happened," the unnamed employee told the Tribune.

"They told us to run, so we did."

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Short on staff: Nursing crisis strains U.S. hospitals

MORGANTOWN, West Virginia - A shortage of nurses at U.S. hospitals hit West Virginia’s Charleston Area Medical Center at the worst possible time.

The non-profit healthcare system is one of the state’s largest employers and sits in the heart of economically depressed coal country. It faces a $40 million deficit this year as it struggles with fewer privately insured patients, cuts in government reimbursement and higher labor costs to attract a shrinking pool of nurses.

To keep its operations intact, Charleston Medical is spending this year $12 million on visiting or “travel” nurses, twice as much as three years ago. It had no need for travel nurses a decade ago.

“I’ve been a nurse 40 years, and the shortage is the worst I’ve ever seen it,” said Ron Moore, who retired in October from his position as vice president and chief nursing officer for the center. Charleston Area Medical’s incentives include tuition reimbursement for nursing students who commit to work at the hospital for two years.

“It’s better to pay a traveler than to shut a bed,” he said.

Hospitals nationwide face tough choices when it comes to filling nursing jobs. They are paying billions of dollars collectively to recruit and retain nurses rather than risk patient safety or closing down departments, according to Reuters interviews with more than 20 hospitals, including some of the largest U.S. chains.

In addition to higher salaries, retention and signing bonuses, they now offer perks such as student loan repayment, free housing and career mentoring, and rely more on foreign or temporary nurses to fill the gaps.

The cost nationwide for travel nurses alone nearly doubled over three years to $4.8 billion in 2017, according to Staffing Industry Analysts, a global advisor on workforce issues.

The burden falls disproportionately on hospitals serving rural communities, many of them already straining under heavy debt like the Charleston Area Medical Center.

These hospitals must offer more money and benefits to compete with facilities in larger metropolitan areas, many of them linked to well-funded universities, interviews with hospital officials and health experts show.

Along West Virginia’s border with Pennsylvania, university-affiliated J.W. Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown is spending $10.4 million in 2017 compared with $3.6 million a year earlier to hire and retain nurses.

But these costs are part of the facility’s expansion this year, including adding more than 100 beds as it grows programs and takes over healthcare services from smaller rural providers that have scaled back or closed.

J.W. Ruby, the flagship hospital for WVU Medicine, offers higher pay for certain shifts, tuition reimbursement, $10,000 signing bonuses and free housing for staff who live at least 60 miles away.

Next year, the hospital is considering paying college tuition for the family members of long-time nurses to keep them in West Virginia.

“We’ll do whatever we need to do,” said Doug Mitchell, vice president and chief nursing officer of WVU Medicine-WVU Hospitals.

NOT LIKE OTHER SHORTAGES

A major driver is the aging of the baby boomer generation, with a greater number of patients seeking care, including many more complex cases, and a new wave of retirements among trained nurses.

Industry experts, from hospital associations to Wall Street analysts, say the crisis is harder to address than in the past. A faculty shortage and too few nursing school slots has contributed to the problem.

Hospitals seek to meet a goal calling for 80 percent of nursing staff to have a four-year degree by 2020, up from 50 percent in 2010. They also face more competition with clinics and insurance companies that may offer more flexible hours.

Healthcare experts warn that the shortfall presents risks to patients and providers. Research published in August in the International Journal of Nursing Studies found that having inadequate numbers of registered nurses on staff made it more likely that a patient would die after common surgeries.

UAB Hospital in Birmingham, Alabama, has invested millions to attract nurses, but still has 300 jobs to fill. At times, nursing vacancy rates in some of its departments has hit 20 percent or higher.

“We’ve rarely canceled a surgery or closed a bed because of lack of staffing,” said Terri Poe, chief of nursing at the hospital, the state’s largest, which serves many low income and uninsured residents.

Last year, the medical center covered nearly $200 million in unreimbursed medical costs for patients. It spent $4.5 million for visiting nurses during fiscal 2016, including $3 million for post-surgery services, compared with $858,000 in 2012.

Healthcare labor costs typically account for at least half of a facility’s expenses. They jumped by 7.6 percent nationally last year, after climbing at a rate closer to 5 percent annually in recent years, said Beth Wexler, vice president non-profit healthcare at Moody‘s. The spending has proven a boon for medical staffing companies like AMN Healthcare and Aya Healthcare.

Missouri’s nursing shortage reached a record high in 2017, with almost 16 percent - or 5,700 - of positions vacant, up from 8 percent last year. Thirty-four percent of Missouri registered nurses are 55 or older.

“Our biggest challenge is getting the pipeline of experienced nurses,” said Peter Callan, director of talent acquisition and development at the University of Missouri Health Care in Columbia, which is expanding. “There are fewer and fewer as people retire.”

Last year, the academic medical center hired talent scouts to identify candidates, Callan said. It spends $750,000 a year on extras to attract and keep nurses, including annual $2,000 bonuses to registered nurses who remain in hard-to-fill units and up to five years of student loan repayment assistance. It offers employee referral bonuses and a chance to win a trip to Hawaii.

Smaller hospitals find it much harder to compete in this climate. More than 40 percent of rural hospitals had negative operating margins in 2015, according to The Chartis Center for Rural Health.

In rural Missouri, 25-bed Ste. Genevieve County Memorial Hospital had to offer signing bonuses, tuition reimbursement and pay differentials when staffing is “critically low” in units such as obstetrics.

They haven’t closed beds, but have hired less experienced nurses, raised salaries and turned away at least one patient who would have been in its long term care program.

“We’ve had to try whatever it takes to get nurses here,” said Rita Brumfield, head of nursing at the hospital. “It’s a struggle every day to get qualified staff.”

To see the entire graphic on the U.S. nursing shortage, click tmsnrt.rs/2xQ9Y0K

source: news.abs-cbn.com

British hospitals shut down by cyberattack

LONDON/MADRID - A huge cyberattack brought disruption to Britain's health system on Friday and infected many Spanish companies with malicious software, and security researchers said a dozen other countries may be affected.

Hospitals and doctors' surgeries in parts of England were forced to turn away patients and cancel appointments. People in affected areas were being advised to seek medical care only in emergencies.

"We are experiencing a major IT disruption and there are delays at all of our hospitals," said the Barts Health group, which manages major London hospitals. Routine appointments had been cancelled and ambulances were being diverted to neighboring hospitals.

Telecommunications giant Telefonica was among the targets in Spain, though it said the attack was limited to some computers on an internal network and had not affected clients or services.

Authorities in both countries said the attack was conducted using 'ransomware' - malicious software that infects machines, locks them up by encrypting data and demands a ransom to restore access. They identified the type of malware as 'Wanna Cry', also known as 'Wanna Decryptor'.

A Telefonica spokesman said a window appeared on screens of infected computers that demanded payment with the digital currency bitcoin in order to regain access to files.

In Spain, the attacks did not disrupt the provision of services or networks operations of the victims, the government said in a statement. Still, the news prompted security teams at large financial services firms and businesses around the world to review their plans for defending against ransomware attacks, according to executives with private cyber security firms.

A spokeswoman for Portugal Telecom said: "We were the target of an attack, like what is happening in all of Europe, a large scale-attack, but none of our services were affected."

British based cyber researcher Chris Doman of AlienVault said the ransomware "looks to be targeting a wide range of countries", with preliminary evidence of infections from 14 countries so far, also including Russia, Indonesia and Ukraine.

PM BRIEFED

A spokesman for British Prime Minister Theresa May said she was being kept informed of the incident, which came less than four weeks before a parliamentary election in which national security and the management of the state-run National Health Service (NHS) are important campaign themes.

Authorities in Britain have been braced for possible cyberattacks in the run-up to the vote, as happened during last year's U.S. election and on the eve of this month's presidential vote in France.

But those attacks - blamed on Russia, which has repeatedly denied them - followed a entirely different modus operandi involving penetrating the accounts of individuals and political organizations and then releasing hacked material online.

The full extent of Friday's disruption in Britain remained unclear.

"This attack was not specifically targeted at the NHS and is affecting organisations from across a range of sectors," NHS Digital, the computer arm of the health service, said in a statement.

Britain's National Cyber Security Centre, part of the GCHQ spy agency, said it was aware of a cyber incident and was working with NHS Digital and the police to investigate.

A reporter from the Health Service Journal said the attack had affected X-ray imaging systems, pathology test results, phone systems and patient administration systems.

Although cyber extortion cases have been rising for several years, they have to date affected small-to-mid sized organisations, disrupting services provided by hospitals, police departments, public transportation systems and utilities in the United States and Europe.

"Seeing a large telco like Telefonica get hit is going to get everybody worried. Now ransomware is affecting larger companies with more sophisticated security operations," Chris Wysopal, chief technology officer with cyber security firm Veracode, said.

The news is also likely to embolden cyber extortionists when selecting targets, Chris Camacho, chief strategy officer with cyber intelligence firm Flashpoint, said.

“Now that the cyber criminals know they can hit the big guys, they will start to target big corporations. And some of them may not be well prepared for such attacks,” Camacho said. In Spain, some big firms took pre-emptive steps to thwart ransomware attacks following a warning from Spain's National Cryptology Centre of "a massive ransomware attack."

Iberdrola and Gas Natural, along with Vodafone's unit in Spain, asked staff to turn off computers or cut off internet access in case they had been compromised, representatives from the firms said.

It was not immediately clear how many Spanish organizations had been compromised by the attacks, if any critical services had been interrupted or whether victims had paid cyber criminals to regain access to their networks.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Fil-Am nurses walk off jobs in search for better working conditions

GREENBRAE, Calif. – The nurses of Marin General Hospital, a medical center north of San Francisco, are asking for the basic demands of safety and better working conditions.

After 11 months of negotiations, some 520 registered nurses walked off the job.

They claim management refuses to address patient care and safety issues despite the reported $49 million in profits the hospital has made over the last three years.

Virginia Currie, a registered nurse at MGH for 21 years, said, “We wanted to let management know that that we have a voice. We have a message to them that we are standing united because we are tired of the abuses.”

The nurses are demanding for an additional nurse per department, to assist in providing break relief.

And due to the significant risk of injuries, the nurses are requesting sufficient lift equipment or a 24-hour access to lift teams.

Carlo Medina, who works in cardiac specialty unit, said, “A nurse will try and lift a patient by themselves or push a patient and there’s a lot of force that one nurse cannot do. But they do it because we are healers. We really try to do our best under the circumstances we have.”

In an email to Balitang America, Jamie Maites, Director of Communications for MGH, called the nurse’s strike “irresponsible and unjustified”.

Maites goes on to state that the hospital has not introduced any changes to the proposed collective bargaining agreement in many other contracts across northern California.

In response to the claims of unsafe staffing, Maites says serious employee injuries and associated claims has been reduced since 2010 and that the hospital maintains a patient safety record that is above the national average.

The hospital temporarily hired about 200 replacement nurses to fill in for the strikers.

Following the strike, both sides have said they look forward to returning to the negotiating table.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Pinoy nurses join rally against Kaiser

OAKLAND, California – Filipinos joined about 300 nurses and union representatives who gathered in front of the California Nurses Association building last week to accuse their employer Kaiser Permanente of dismissing the importance of patient care.

They said this is alarming because Kaiser is the largest health insurer and hospital system in California.

"We were supposed to have bargaining but our employer failed to show up so we went to them instead. So we rallied over at their office and let them know that we were there and what are purpose was to be there," Mike Beshears, a 21-year nurse at Kaiser L.A.M.C.

The nurses say that despite the $1.1 billion increase in Kaiser profits for the first quarter of 2014, the company still allows chronic understaffing and continues to cut patient services.

Those cuts include hospital admission restrictions, holding patients in “observation” for over 72 hours, and prematurely sending patients from Kaiser Hospitals to others settings that include homes where the burden of providing care falls on the families.

Even nurses from southern California made the trip up north to join the efforts in protecting their patients.

“We came up here to support our nurses up north because we are all one company and we are all here for the care of our patients,” said Beshears. “We want everyone to know we are united on this. We want our patients to get the care they deserve and that they paid for.”

“We as nurses are the voice of our patients,” said Tessie Costales, a 28-year nurse of Kaiser L.A.M.C. “So being their voice, we want better care for them and Kaiser is starting to cut back on all the services. So as a nurse we are the voice of our patient and we want to be heard.”

Many Pinoy nurses here say they take their profession seriously and it means being the best nurses they can be.

“A lot of the nurses were sent here by their parents and have sacrifice so much to sell everything they have to send their children to school to be nurses to be here to better their lives,” said Marilu Ramirez, a nurse on the 2014 bargaining team.

Balitang America has reached out to Kaiser to respond to these allegations.

In an email, Kaiser says the reason why they didn’t meet with the nurses is because they did not agree on a neutral location.

Kaiser also says it is ready to come to the bargaining table with the nurses and it is confident that both parties will have a meaningful dialogue.

But for now these protesters have a clear message for Kaiser.

“I want you to obey what the nurses are saying,” said Ramirez. “We are for our patients and that is the best, best way we can do this. If you follow what’s in your heart, not the pocket, but what’s in your heart it’s always patients first.”

 Read more from Balitang America.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Nurse accuses embassy official of asking for cut

MANILA, Philippines – A Filipino nurse has accused an official of the Philippine Embassy in Kuwait of trying get a a percentage from the supposed benefits that the worker would get after a case settlement.

Patrick Singson said he went to the Philippine Embassy in Kuwait to seek assistance after an Arab doctor punched him inside the operating room just this year.

“Nagkamali po ako ng hawak doon sa instruction niya then he suddenly punched me twice,” said Singson, who is now back in the Philippines.

Singson said he filed a complaint before the management of the hospital and sought additional support from the embassy but was allegedly turned down.

“Hindi daw po ako entitled because they are only giving it to the domestic helpers,” he said.

Instead, Singson was referred by Daligdig Ibrahim Tanandato, the chief of the Assistance to Nationals unit of the embassy, to another Filipino who introduced himself as a financier to help him in his case.

“You should accept 10,000 KD as a form of settlement. May porsyento na kami doon,” Singson said, quoting Tanandato and the other Pinoy.

However, Tanandato belied the allegations.

“Hindi yan totoo sir. Wala din kaming sinabing porsyento-porsyento. Ang OUMWA (Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs) ang nagsasabi kung ano ang dapat naming gawin,” Tanandato said.

He even added that he fought for the OFW.

“Nakipag-away ako sa legal officer at doon sa human resource manager dahil pinaglalaban ko siya,” he said.

But Singson said he has evidence which he will submit to the Department of Foreign Affairs to prove his allegation agains the embassy official. Report from Henry Omaga-Diaz, ABS-CBN News

source: abs-cbnnews.com

Why Luis Manzano was in and out of hospital

MANILA, Philippines -- Actor-host Luis Manzano has resumed work on his showbiz engagements, but only after being hospitalized twice in recent months.

"'Yung last was a viral infection," Manzano said of the reason for his hospitalization. "Pretty high fever, but before that, my second time na na-hospitalize was either due to hyperreactive lungs, or asthma, or acid reflux."

During a pictorial for the upcoming fourth season of reality talent contest "Pilipinas Got Talent", which he will host along with singer Billy Crawford, Manzano shared with ABS-CBN News that he had only recently recovered from his health condition.

"Okay naman na, matagal pa naman 'yung binigay sa 'kin ng doctor, marami pa akong puwedeng gawin sa buhay," he said in jest.

"It took me a while to recover, kasi medyo mahirap 'pag lungs eh. And it's not like a headache, na alam mo masakit 'yung ulo mo. Breathing kasi, pag pumalya 'yan, medyo alam na natin ang mangyayari. It took me a month or two bago mawala 'yung shortage of breath," he added.

Jen, back to work

Throughout his stay at the hospital, Manzano said his current girlfriend actress Jennylyn Mercado attended to him tirelessly, for which he is grateful.

"Siyempre alalang-alala naman si Jen. Andu'n siya all throughout my hospitalization, she was there. Kahit may trabaho right after, andu'n siya. I'm very thankful that she was there to take care of me, every step of the way.

"[Her presence] really, really helped. It's not easy to be in a hospital, to have a number of tests everyday. So she helped me through everything," he said.

Now having regained his strength, Manzano resumes work as a host for a number of TV programs, including "Kapamilya, Deal or No Deal", "Sarah G Live", and the upcoming fourth season of "PGT".

The actor-host is also set to star in a comedy film with actress Toni Gonzaga and comedian Vice Ganda, titled "This Guy's in Love with You Mare."

source: abs-cbnnews.com

Filipino nurses tapped by leading hospital in Bangladesh

MANILA, Philippines - A leading hospital in Bangladesh will be hiring Filipino nurses to work at their facility in the country’s capital, Dhaka, the Philippine Embassy in Dhaka reported.

Brig. Gen.(Retd) Shahidul Islam and Dr. Salahuddin Ahmed, Director of Operation and Administration, and Chief Coordinator for Development, respectively, of the United Hospital, informed Philippine Ambassador to Bangladesh Bahnarim A. Guinomla, at a courtesy call at the Embassy, that the recruitment of Filipino medical workers is in progress, especially the documentation requirements.

Dr. Ahmed visited the Philippines recently to start interviewing applicants in Manila.

Ambassador Guinomla described the move of the hospital as a ground-breaking development, as most Filipino nurses work in more developed markets; and that Bangladesh itself sends workers overseas.

The ambassador thanked both Brig. Gen. Islam and Dr. Ahmed for their confidence in the widely-proven skills and reliability of Filipino medical workers.

The hospital plans to assign the successful applicants to the so-called critical areas including emergencies and intensive care cases or the so-called Basic Life Support (BLS) work.

In a letter to Guinomla, Managing Director Faridur Rahman Khan described United Hospital as a multi-disciplinary hospital providing services to both local and foreign patients, especially those from the diplomatic area in Dhaka, since its inception in August 2006.

source: interaksyon.com

Boy Figures In Escalator Mishap

MANILA, Philippines — A seven-year-old boy's arm was caught in an escalator inside a supermarket in Caloocan City the other night. Felix Aparehado, was rescued and brought to the Manila Central University hospital for treatment of his hand. Sketchy reports showed that the incident happened at 7:30 pm inside the Puregold Monumento mall in Caloocan City.

Melody Aparehado, the aunt of the victim, told authorities that they went to the establishment along with his sons. When she went to the comfort room, she said she was shocked to see her nephew already snagged to the side of the escalator.

Her son told her that they were playing near the escalator when his cousin suddenly tripped and the latter's arm was caught in the escalator's belt.

Melody lamented that there should have been a security guard in the area to avoid such things from happening.

Norman Bacalao, the head of the security personnel, however said that they did have roving security guards in the area and he was in fact the one who first saw the incident.

He said that this was the reason why he immediately called a rescue team and coordinated with their personnel to cordon-off the area to allow the rescue workers to move freely.

It took three hours before the boy was finally rescued. One of the rescue workers said that they had a hard time getting the boy out because the latter's arm seemingly clamped into the escalator belt and the stairstep.

The management of the branch of Puregold assured the relatives of the boy that they will shoulder all the medical expenses of the latter until he is discharged from the hospital.



source: mb.com.ph