Hometown Alaska: You might have noticed a lot of Filipino health care workers in Alaska. Here’s why.

Hometown, Alaska - Alaska Public Media

Red Cross nurses in the Philippines. (Photo via WikimediaCommons)

If you’ve ever been to a hospital or a medical clinic or some type of medical facility, which most of us probably have, you may have noticed that a lot of health care workers are Filipino. They can be doctors, or home care providers, or some type of health care worker, but most of them are nurses. This is not just your imagination, as statistics show that Filipino nurses do compose the largest share of immigrant nurses in the United States. In fact, the Philippines is the world’s biggest supplier of nurses. In this episode, we talk to some Filipina nurses – members of an organization called Philippine Nurses Association of Alaska, Incorporated – to hear their journeys and experiences in the American healthcare system – particularly during the time of COVID – and how this impacts their families, and the entire Filipino American community.

HOST:

E.J. David

Guests:

Lorna Hermogino Garcia, Founder and first President of the Philippine Nurses Association of Alaska

Maribell Salanguit, Current President of the Philippine Nurses Association of Alaska.

Belena Hernandez Futch, Member of Philippine Nurses Association of Alaska

LINK:

“Empire of Care: Nursing and Migration in Filipino American History”

Why the US has so many Filipino nurses – VOX

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• LIVE: Monday, December 6, 2021 at 10 a.m.
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