The Philippine Children’s Medical Center (File photo by LYN RILLON / Philippine Daily Inquirer)
MANILA, Philippines — Senator Sonny Angara is seeking the establishment of satellite specialty hospitals in the provinces so residents in remote areas can have easier access to tertiary care.
In filing Senate Bill No. 93, Angara pointed out that specialty hospitals such as the Philippine Heart Center, Lung Center of the Philippines, National Kidney and Transplant Institute, and the Philippine Children’s Medical Center are all operated by the Department of Health and are all located in Metro Manila.
Angara observed that many patients in specialty hospitals situated in Metro Manila are from far-flung areas such as General Santos City and Maguindanao.
“Napakalaking gastos ito para sa mga pasyente at sa kanilang mga kamag-anak na kailangan bumiyahe ng malayo para magpagamot,” Angara said in a statement.
(This is expensive for the patients and their families that need to travel far for medical care.)
Under Angara’s bill, four Metro Manila specialty hospitals must establish satellite hospitals in identified regions to operate and manage according to their respective charters.
Prioritization in the selection of locations will be based on the following:
- top burden of disease in the region;
- the legal mandates of laws such as the Integrated Cancer Control Act, Mental Health Act, and the Expanded Senior Citizens Act; and
- provinces that are geographically isolated from the region’s tertiary care hospital
“Marami pa tayong mga probinsya na talaga naman na underserved pagdating sa health services. Ito ang mga lugar na isolated sa kanilang mga regional tertiary care hospitals,” Angara said.
(We have a lot of provinces that are underserved when it comes to health services. These are the locations isolated from their regional tertiary care hospitals.)
“Dahil dito ang panukala natin ay makapagpatayo ng specialty hospitals sa mga nakatayo nang mga ospital sa mga probinsyang ito,” he added.
(Because of this, we propose establishing specialty hospitals in hospitals already built in these provinces.)
Aside from establishing satellite specialty hospitals, Angara said there is a need to produce more medical personnel, particularly specialists, to serve in these facilities. — Andy Hoo, INQUIRER.net trainee