PhilHealth to help make gov’t hospitals self-sustaining—Ona
MAASIN CITY, Philippines—Health Secretary Enrique T. Ona has expressed optimism that government hospitals would become self-sustaining as the Aquino administration was pushing for more PhilHealth enrollment, particularly among the poorest of the poor.
Ona, who was here to speak at the “soft opening” of the newly constructed Southern Leyte Provincial Hospital, told journalists he saw no problem in the operation of the new facility, or any other government hospital, as the government was increasing the number of PhilHealth beneficiaries. The hospital is not completely finished yet.
“By July of this year the DSWD will be evaluating the new list of indigents, targeting at least half of the population in the country through the Pangkalahatang Kalusugan program of the Aquino administration,” he said.
Ona said that under the program the government would pay for the yearly PhilHealth premium of poor families, many of whose members die without seeing doctors or going to hospitals.
“With this, the PhilHealth will now be paying hospitals for the hospitalization of sick members of poor families. They will leave the hospital without paying a single centavo.”
By this alone, he said, hospital operations could be sustained.
Ona said close coordination between LGUs and the Department of Health was essential for the success of the Pangkahalatan Kalusugan program.
“The DOH could not… (provide) health service for the people without the help of the LGUs, which will be in charge of identifying the PhilHealth beneficiaries whose premiums will be funded by sin taxes,” Ona said.
Noting its modern structure, Ona predicted the new hospital, touted to be the biggest in Eastern Visayas, would become a premier hospital in the region, serving not only Southern Leyte’s 500,000 population but also residents of towns in Leyte province.
He said the hospital will have CT scan and state-of-the- art laboratory facilities so that patients will not need to go to Ormoc or Tacloban for these tests.
The new hospital, which cost around P300 million, has about one hectare of floor area with 87 private rooms sitting on 3.17 hectares of land in the village of Dongon, five kilometers from the center of Maasin.
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