CALIFORNIA – Police are looking for a Filipino woman who is allegedly responsible for one of the biggest health care fraud scams in California.

Susan Bendigo-Lim, 41, is America’s “Most Wanted Health Care Fugitive” as listed on the Office of Inspector General’s website.

She is accused of stealing $17 million in an alleged Medi-Cal scam, where she is said to have pocketed $10 million.

Bendigo-Lim was the Director of Nursing for Excel Plus Home Health Services when she and co-conspirator Priscilla Villabroza allegedly billed Medicare millions of dollars for the services provided by unlicensed nurses

From 2003 through August 2007, investigators said they sent unlicensed nurses to the homes of elderly, disabled adults and children.

At least 40 fake nurses were trained to take nurses notes and present themselves as real nurses. But when it came to billing time, the notes were signed by real nurses.

Susan Bendigo-Lim is said to have fled the US during her investigation, and is now a fugitive.

Lim was originally from Davao, Philippines.

ABS-CBNnews.com

MANILA, Philippines – The Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) announced on Saturday that 29,711 successfully passed the Nurse Licensure Examination given by the Board of Nursing.

The examination was given in the cities of Manila, Baguio, Butuan, Cagayan de Oro, Cebu, Dagupan, Davao, Ilocos Sur, Iloilo, La Union, Legazpi, Lucena, Nueva Ecija, Pagadian, Pampanga, Tacloban, Tuguegarao and Zamboanga last December 2010.

DOWNLOAD THE FULL LIST OF SUCCESSFUL EXAMINEES HERE !!!

PRC: 29,711 new nurses
NURS1210-ALPHA.doc

MANILA, Philippines - The Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) announced on Saturday that 29,711 successfully passed the Nurse Licensure Examination given by the Board of Nursing.

The examination was given in the cities of Manila, Baguio, Butuan, Cagayan de Oro, Cebu, Dagupan, Davao, Ilocos Sur, Iloilo, La Union, Legazpi, Lucena, Nueva Ecija, Pagadian, Pampanga, Tacloban, Tuguegarao and Zamboanga last December 2010.

Date:	February 19, 2011

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Topping the December 2010 nursing exam was Weanne Myrrh Razon Estrada, a graduate of Adventist University of the Philippines, which is based in Silang, Cavite.

She got the highest rating of 88.4%.

The December 201 nursing board exam result represents a passing rate of 35.25%. There were 84,287 total number of examinees who took it.

This passing rate is lower than that of the previous examination in July 2010. At the time, 37,527 passed the exam out of 94,462 takers, representing a passing rate of 41.4%.

Top 10 successful examinees  

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Top performing schools

The results of examination with respect to two (2) examinees were withheld pending final determination of their liabilities under the rules and regulations governing licensure examination.

Those who will register are required to bring the following:

• Duly accomplished Oath Form or Panunumpa ng Propesyonal
• Current Community Tax Certificate (cedula)
• 2 pieces passport size picture (colored with white background and complete name tag)
• 1 piece 1” x 1” picture (colored with white background and complete name tag)
• 2 sets of metered documentary stamps, and
• 1 short brown envelope with name and profession

They would also have to pay the Initial Registration Fee of P600 and Annual Registration Fee of P450 for 2011-2014.

Successful examinees should personally register and sign in the Roster of Registered Professionals.

The oathtaking ceremony of the successful examinees in the said examination in Manila as well as the previous ones who have not taken their Oath of Professional will be held before the Board on Monday and Tuesday, March 14 and 15, 2011, with morning (8:00 A.M.) and afternoon (1:00 P.M.) sessions at the SMX Convention Center, SM Mall of Asia, Pasay City.

All must come in their white gala uniform, nurse’s cap, white duty shoes, without earrings, hair not touching the collar and without corsage.

Oathtaking tickets for the National Capital Region (NCR) and nearby regions will be available at the Philippine Nurses Association (PNA) at 1663 F.T. Benitez Street, Malate, Manila, from February 28, 2011 on a “first come first serve” basis.

Online Priority number, available at http://www.nurseoathtaking.net, is required to avail of tickets.

All regional oathtaking schedules will be posted in the BON website: www.bonphilippines.org.

The members of the Board of Nursing are Carmencita M. Abaquin, Chairman; Leonila A. Faire, Betty F. Merritt, Perla G. Po, Marco Antonio C. Sto.Tomas, Yolanda C. Arugay and Amelia B. Rosales, Members.

ABS-CBNnews.com

A major Philippine nurses’ organization voiced dismay Thursday over the release of six suspects in the gang-rape of a volunteer nurse in Maguindanao province last month.

Philippine Nurses Association (PNA) president Teresita Barcelo said they are coordinating with the Justice Department to fine-tune the group’s next legal move on the matter.

“Natatakot kami na baka sa kagaganito’t kagaganoon wala ni isang maituturo na perpetrator at yung totoong may sala natutuwa at pinagtatawanan kami kasi nasa labas siya (We are afraid we may end up with no suspects in the case, and the perpetrator will just be scot-free, laughing at all of us),” Barcelo said in an interview on dwIZ radio.

She also voiced fears the release will buy the perpetrators enough time to flee the country.

“In the end, no one will be jailed. For now, there is an unseen hand muddling the case and confusing the facts,” she said in Filipino.

When asked if the perpetrators could be planning to flee the country, she said, “yes. Kaya this morning yan ang immediate concern (yes, that is what we will have to discuss. That is our immediate concern).”

She also said the release – coupled with the earlier recantation of a self-confessed suspect in the case – smacked of an attempt to throw investigators off the scent.

Barcelo said she has sought a meeting with Justice Secretary Leila de Lima to discuss their next legal move.

“Our call is for a special prosecutor to handle the case and to move the case from Cotabato to a safer place. Those are our possible strategies,” she said.

Citing information reaching her, she said that while not all the six may be involved, there are indications linking “one to two” of them to the crime.

“Meron akong alam pero di ko beripikado, na hindi siguro lahat sa anim na dinampot… pero isa o dalawa sa mga ito ay posibleng involved. Kaya hindi ko maano bakit lahat ay [pinalaya](Based on information reaching me, one or two of the six suspects are probably involved in the crime. I cannot understand why all six were released wholesale),” she said.

But she said the PNA will still confer with De Lima and government prosecutors, saying her group does not want to preempt their moves.

She also said any act by the PNA on its own will be unfair for the victim, nicknamed Florence, because she has the right to decide on what to do next.

“It’s a criminal offense the state can act on. But we cannot ask Florence what she wants to do next. We are just a support group. We cannot preempt her or the state. It will not be fair,” she said.

On Wednesday, six suspects in the gang-rape were freed after provincial prosecutors found no solid evidence linking them to the crime.

In a 10-page resolution, the Maguindanao prosecutor’s office said there is “no probable cause” to charge the six suspects with rape after a review of testimonies from witnesses.

Cleared from the crime were Glenn Saldoa, Rustom Sangclap, Michael Candelario, Jeffrey Fernandez, Eugene Biscara and Darwin Escalona.

But Prosecutor Cairoden Pangunotan, who wrote the resolution, said the six can still be charged with rape if new evidence links them to the crime.

Police initially arrested the six after witnesses reportedly saw them with the rape victim in a videoke bar before she was allegedly gang-raped on September 25.

The six were also reportedly among those who found the volunteer nurse naked and unconscious in a cornfield and brought her to the hospital, while one of them reported the incident to the local police.

On the other hand, the Maguindanao prosecutor’s office recommended the filing of charges against former militiaman Melchor Fulgencio, who admitted to taking part in the gang-rape but recanted his statement later.

Victim’s family saddened

Barcelo said the victim’s family had been informed of the release and was saddened by it. However, she said the victim herself was not informed, at least for now.

“Ang tungkol sa release ng mga suspect ‘di sinasabi kay Florence. Pero ang pamilya alam kaya medyo malungkot pero si Florence ‘di muna sinasabihan (We have not told her about this although her family has been informed. They are very sad),” she said.

She said the victim’s condition continues to improve but is being monitored closely. She said the victim can understand instructions and sit on her own, but still has partial paralysis in the right side of the body.

For now, Barcelo said the victim’s vision is fine but still could not communicate, but she can repeat words. “Hopefully maka-recover siya fully (We hope she can recover fully),” she said. — LBG, GMANews.TV

Two Texas nurses have agreed for a $750,000 settlement in connection with the lawsuit they filed against the Winkler Country hospital that fired them for accusing one of its doctors of improper medical treatment.

Winkler County Memorial Hospital fired Anne Mitchell and Vickilyn Galle for alleged misuse of official information when they anonymously reported Dr. Rolando Arafiles Jr., a Filipino, to the state medical board in 2009.

Mitchell was acquitted in February this year, while charges against Galle were dropped shortly before the trial commenced.

State and national nursing associations earlier supported the two nurses’ cause, warning that their prosecution sends a “chilling effect” on the reporting of medical malpractice.

Mitchell, 53, said in an interview by The New York Times that she was glad to put the issue behind her. “We’ll be able to move on with our lives. We never thought we’d be in this situation at this stage, when we should be settling down and looking toward retirement,” she said.

One of their nurses’ lawyers said in the article that both Mitchell and Galle, residents of Jal City in New Mexico, were unable to find new employment in the medical field after they were dismissed as nursing administrators last year.

According to the article, the nurses’ lawsuit asserted that they had been subjected to “vindictive prosecution” and denied their First Amendment rights.

The hospital and other defendants agreed to the settlement without acknowledging liability, the article further noted.

“Substandard treatment”

Arafiles was charged in late June by the Texas Medical Board with numerous violations, including “failure to maintain adequate medical records, poor medical judgment, poor decision-making, overbilling, improper coding, non-therapeutic prescribing and/or treatment and intimidation of witnesses.”

The complaint alleges substandard treatment of nine patients in 2008 and 2009.

Arafiles is accused, for instance, of suturing a rubber scissor tip to a patient’s finger; using an unapproved olive oil solution on a patient with a highly resistant bacterial infection; failing to diagnose appendicitis; and conducting a skin graft in the emergency room without surgical privileges.

He continues to work at Winkler County Memorial Hospital in Kermit while awaiting a hearing before an administrative law judge on the medical board’s charges. His license may be restricted or revoked should the charges be proven.

Arafiles’ background

Arafiles finished medicine at the University of the East Ramon Magsaysay Memorial Medical Center in 1977, according to the medical website Vitals, which keeps a public listing of US-based doctors and their credentials and specialization.

He completed residencies at the Davao Brokenshire Memorial Hospital and East Avenue Medical Center, before migrating to the US to practice his profession.

Vitals further lists Arafiles as having 29 years of experience as an emergency physician, whose specializations family and general practice, and pain medicine.

In 2007, the state board placed a three-year restriction on his license, after reviewing charges of unprofessional conduct and inadequate supervision of subordinates at a weight-loss clinic where he worked.

Anonymous letter

In April this year, the Department of State Health Services fined the Winkler County Hospital $15,850 for inadequately supervising Arafiles, and for firing Mitchell and Galle.

The nurses, in charge of quality assurance and regulatory compliance, said they began having concerns about Arafiles soon after he was hired in 2008 by the hospital.

Feeling that their warnings went unheeded, the nurses wrote the state medical board anonymously.

Upon learning of the complaint, Arafiles persuaded the county sheriff to investigate who had filed the complaint.

The sheriff, who was reportedly a friend and patient of Arafiles’, subsequently obtained a search warrant to seize the nurses’ computers. He found the draft of the complaint letter on the hard drive of Mitchell’s computer, and Arafiles brought the case to a grand jury.

According to the New York Times article, the jury took less than an hour to rules against the prosecutors’ assertion that Mitchell had acted in bad faith. – KBK, GMANews.TV

The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) has released the Top 20 Nursing Schools in the Philippines based on their performance in the past Nursing Licensure Examinations.

Top 20 Nursing Schools with 1,000 and more takers:

1. Silliman University (Dumaguete) 96.57%
2. Saint Louis University ( Baguio) 95.42%
3. Trinity University of Asia ( Quezon City) 95.06%
4. University of Santo Tomas (Manila) 95.06%
5. Cebu Doctors University ( Cebu City) 91.89%
6. Saint Paul University (Tuguegarao) 89.79%
7. Central Philippine University ( Iloilo City) 86.72%
8. De La Salle University – Health Sciences campus (Dasmariñas, Cavite) 85.26%
9. Saint Mary’s University (Nueva Vizcaya) 84.10%
10. San Pedro College ( Davao City) 83. 10%
11. Manila Doctors College ( Pasay City) 82.56%
12. Centro Escolar University-Manila ( Manila) 81.50%
13. Angeles University Foundation ( Angeles City) 76.37%
14. Mariano Marcos University (Bacnotan, La Union) 75.55%
15. University of San Agustin ( Iloilo City) 73.25%
16. University of Cebu ( Cebu City) 70.99%
17. Metropolitan Hospital College of Nursing ( Manila) 70.54%
18. Ateneo De Davao University ( Davao City) 70.20%
19. San Juan De Dios Education Foundation ( Pasay City) 69. 91%
20. University of St. La Salle ( Bacolod City) 67.55%

Top 20 Nursing Schools with 100-999 takers:

1. University of the Philippines – Manila ( Manila) 99.41%
2. Xavier University (Cagayan de Oro City) 97.82%
3. West Visayas State University ( Iloilo City) 96.75%
4. St. Paul University-Iloilo ( Iloilo City) 96.16%
5. University of the East Ramon Magsaysay Memorial Medical Center 95.80%
6. Cebu Normal University ( Cebu City) 94.64%
7. Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila ( Manila) 93.14%
8. St. Paul University – Dumaguete (Dumaguete) 92.29%
9. Mindanao State University ( Marawi City) 92.15%
10. Palawan State University ( Puerto Prinsesa City) 92.05%
11. Philippine Christian University ( Manila) 91.35%
12. Velez College ( Cebu City) 90.92%
13. Colegio de Santa Lourdes of Leyte Foundation ( Tacloban City) 88. 55%
14. Chinese General Hospital College of Nursing and Liberal Arts ( Manila) 87.60%
15. St. Paul University-Manila ( Manila) 85.31%
16. Easter College ( Baguio City) 85.26%
17. Southville International School and Colleges (Las Piñas City) 84.77%
18. St.Paul University-Quezon City ( Quezon City) 83.87%
19. Adamson University ( Manila) 83.57%
20. Lyceum of the Philippines University ( Manila) 82.20%

Meanwhile, according to Emmanuel Angeles, Commission on Higher Education (CHED) chairman, a total of 152 nursing schools were found to have performed below the national passing rate of 46.14 percent for the past five years.

These 152 nursing schools will face closure if they fail to improve their nursing programs through their graduates’ performance in the coming nursing licensure exams.

Among the 152 poor performing nursing schools are: Arellano University-Manila, Arellano University-Pasay, De Los Santos-STI College, De Ocampo Memorial College, Dominican College, Dr. Carlos S. Lanting College, Emilio Aguinaldo College, J.P. Sioson General Hospital and Colleges, La Consolacion College Manila, Las Piñas College, Martinez Memorial College, Mary Chiles College, Olivarez College, Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Pasay, Perpetual Help College of Manila, Philippine College of Health Sciences, Philippine Rehabilitation Institute Foundation, Southeast Asian College, St. Jude College, St. Rita Hospital College of Nursing and School of Midwifery, STI College-Recto, the Family Clinic, Unciano Colleges and General Hospital, University of Perpetual Help-Rizal, and World Citi Colleges, Quezon City.

Calabarzon has 23 schools in the list; Central Luzon, 20; Ilocos Region, 16; Bicol, 14; SOCCSKSARGEN, 8; Northern Mindanao, 7; Zamboanga Peninsula, Davao Region and  Cordillera Administrative Region, 6; Cagayan Valley and Central Visayas, 5; CARAGA Region, 3; and Eastern Visayas and Mimaropa Region, 1.

Philippine Nurses Association – Bukidnon Chapter
52nd Regional Annual Convention
November 18 – 19, 2009
Kaamulan Folk Arts Theatre
Malaybalay, Bukidnon, Mindanao, Philippines

Some of the 91 Nurses Assigned in Rural Service (NARS) trainees from the Iloilo province react to a lecture during the orientation on Project NARS training modules conducted April 1 in Iloilo City. The nurses-trainees will be deployed to their respective areas of assignment starting April 3. (DOLE/PIA)

In line with the pump priming strategies to mitigate the impact of the global financial crisis, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo launched the Nurses Assigned in Rural Service (NARS) Project on 9 February 2009 during the Multi-Sectoral Summit on “Joining Hands Against the Global Crisis” in Malacanan Palace, Manila.

The NARS Program, a Training cum Employment Program, aims to address the (1) glut in inexperienced nurses and the proliferation of “volunteer nurses” working in hospitals without being paid, but instead, they themselves pay the hospitals to obtain Certificate of work experience; and (2) to promote health of the people and bring the government closer to them.   Unemployed nurses will be mobilized in their hometowns as warriors for wellness to do the three I’s:

* Initiate primary health, school nutrition, maternal health programs, first line diagnosis
* Inform about community water sanitation practices and also do health surveillance
* Immunize children and mothers.

They shall likewise serve as roving nurses for rural schools.   Nurses will be deployed at an average of 5 per town in the 1,000 poorest municipalities, for a six-months tour of duty. Another batch will be deployed for the second half of the year. These nurses will undergo training and development for competency enhancement in accordance with the training program designed by the DOH in collaboration with the PRC-BON. The training program will cover both the clinical and public health functions.   Completion of the training program under NARS program shall be considered as a substitute for the work experience requirement of hospitals and other health facilities, both local and overseas. The Certificate of Completion shall be issued jointly by the DOLE, DOH and PRC.   While on training, nurses will be given a stipend/allowance of P8,000.00 per month. This translates to about P366.00 per day for a forty (40) hours training/workweek. As these nurses are already in their hometowns, transportation expenses will no longer be a problem.   The stipend of P8,000 may be increased if the host LGUs will offer a counterpart of say P2,000. Corporations may chip in by providing shirts, insurance, vitamins, etc., making the program a national enterprise with private equity.

Program Coverage
Unemployed registered nurses who are physically and mentally fit and willing to serve in their hometowns and who meet the following requirements may qualify for the training cum employment under NARS:

* With valid nurse license issued by the PRC
* Not over 35 years old
* Resident of the identified municipalities
* No nursing-related practice for the past 3 years

Nurse applicants who are dependents of workers affected by the Global Crisis based on the list provided by the DOLE Regional office shall be given priority in the selection.
Online Application
Application may be filed from 20 February 2009 to 22 March 2009. List of successful applicants with area of assignment shall be posted on 26-31 March 2009.

Covered Municipalities
The selection of the 1,000 poorest municipalities shall be based on the City and Municipal Poverty Incidence based on Small Area Poverty Estimates (SAE) of the National Statistics and Coordination Board/World Bank Intercensal Updating of Small Area Poverty Estimates. This same SAE is being used by the DSWD in their Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program and also for prioritizing target households for their National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction. Covered under the NARS Project shall be those cities and Municipalities with pverty rank 1 (poores) to rank 1,000.

Timetable of Activities First Batch (5,000 nurse-trainees) 1. Recruitment and selection February 20 – March 22 2. Posting of successful applicants with area of assignment March 26-31 3. Orientation of nurse-trainees, Deployment to area of assignments April 1-2