A better payment system should be in place to avoid the accumulation of unpaid bills in the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC), a Capitol official said.
Evelyn Sinajon, head of the Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office, said they asked hospital chief Dr. Gerardo Aquino to bill the Capitol every 15th and 30th day of the month.
She said this system would prevent having the hospital turn away indigent beneficiaries when payments by the Capitol are late or inadequate similar to what happened last week.
Acting Gov. Agnes Magpale earlier intervened to settle the Capitol’s unpaid bills which reached P900,000 since 2010, a delinquency that came to light when indigent patients were turned away.
Under the new billing system, Sinajon said VSMMC will send the Capitol all billings incurred for the first 15 days of the month.
They will process the payments for the first half from the 16th to the 30th.
The Capitol will pay the bill at the end of the month and process payments for bills incurred on the second half on the next period.
Sinajon said she asked Dr. Aquino to set a P1 million credit limit for the Capitol.
After Magpale assured that payment of P700,000 to VSMMC would be made this week, Sinajon said they now have a remaining balance of P450,000 to the hospital.
They are also looking at other means to reduce the hospital bills.
Sinajon said most Cebu congressmen course their funding for medical assistance directly to the hospitals.
Rep. Red Durano and Luigi Quisumbing of Cebu’s 5th and 6th districts each allocated P3 million from their pork barrel to Capitol but funding is not only for medical assistance, Sinajon said.
Sinajon said they set up a Capitol coordinator at VSMMC in order to monitor the referrals.
Rep. Benhur Salimbangon of Cebu’s 4th district said tourism destinations in his district like Bantayan Island and Daanbantayan need modern hospitals.
He said he talked with Dr. Aquino to help improve the state of district hospitals in the two areas.
Aquino said an agreement similar to one entered into by VSMMC with Surigao del Norte can be made in these areas.
“Siargao Island is now a favorite tourism destination and they needed a hospital there. We can replicate this in the 4th district,” Dr. Aquino said.
He said the hospital can send its doctors to assist in the Bantayan district hospital. He said a compensation scheme should also be adopted like giving doctors a share of the hospital’s Philhealth and other health care claims.
“At the end of the day, this kind of setup with help VSMMC because we will no longer be receiving patients from peripheral hospitals like the Bantayan Island district hospital. We’ll only service major cases,” Dr. Aquino said.
Rep. Eduardo Gullas of Cebu’s 1st district said his constituents have enough funds from his pork barrel for medical assistance at the VSMMC. With Reporter Ador Vincent Mayol