Case no.

As a public health servant for 12 years, I have encountered a lot of dilemmas in terms of
governance. However, in order to relate an incident I need not go further than my own health
office where I used to work as a municipal health officer.

I had this nursing aide employee who acted as a microscopist in the health office. She
examined sputum and stool since she took up medical technology , although she didn’t finish
the course. However most of the time, being a nursing aide, she prepared cotton balls and
gauze bandages for use in the clinic.

After my first module in HLMP, I learned how to become assertive. I talked to her about her
work habits: I chided her to reporting to work at 9 am or 10 am everyday and for not reporting on
saturday (our office is open on saturdays 8am to 1pm for mothers working in factories far from
the town, or for those who can’t afford to have their medical exams during weekdays.

Moreover, this employee would file for sick leave frequently, maybe several times in a month.
So. I tried to talk to her to change the situation, but instead of understanding, she got angry at
me and filed another indefinite leave.

Since this employee was only detailed at the municipal health office and drew her salary from
the provincial health office ( where she has her plantilla position), I returned her to her mother
unit after consultation with the civil service at the province.

The province health officer accepted her transfer and she was assigned in the wards because
that is the right place for her position. After a month of working there, she again took a leave
without pay until she consumed all her leave credits for the year. 

The PHO, after reviewing the list of employees, listed her absence and wanted to give her a
letter of AWOL. However, she came back to work with a letter from the governor “authorizing”
her return. The governor probably issued the letter without knowing of her attitude towards work,
ang not being aware that she is a liability to the province.

The provincial Health Officer was now in a quandary: should she listen to the governor or not?
Should we listen to the person in authority , or should we be doing our job and doing the right
thing? Sadly , this is governance in our set-up these days.

On my side , my dilemma has been solved by having returned tha said employee to the mother
unit. But for the provincial health officer; her problem had just begun. At first , she knew the right
thing to do, and she did it, but after that the “ political “ intervention , we weren’t so sure what to
do anymore.

Discussion questions : 
Your answer will be based on what you have learned from session 1 to 4 topics.

1. If you were the writer, how would you have handled the situatio
2. Would you have continued to be involved in the situation, or would you have left the
provincial health officer to handle it on her own?

3. Would you communicate your concerns to the governor? Why or why not? What would
you say?

4. If after having heard your side, the governor insisted on retaining this employee, what
course of action would you take?

5. What core values of writer, Provincial Health officer and the employee  are in question
now?

6. What can you say about the overall tone of the writer essay?