New Sarangani enterprise: Hospital with no freebies

DAVAO CITY, Philippines—The Sarangani provincial hospital, which is currently under construction, would not provide free services even to indigent patients when it starts to operate in the coming days, Gov. Steve Chiongbian said.

In a statement sent to Inquirer on Friday, Chiongbian said Sarangani officials decided that the tertiary provincial hospital being built at the capitol compound in Alabel town would be operated as an enterprise.

Health Secretary Enrique Ona  also vouched for this Public-Private Partnership (PPP) scheme, he said.

Chiongbian said Ona had told Sarangani officials, including Rep. Manny Pacquiao, that “partnering with the business sector is an option that could be taken advantage of and be considered.”

Chiongbian said indigent patients would be given access to hospital services through the Philippine Health Insurance (PhilHealth).

Almost 97,000 families in the province, or 89.8 percent out of 107,964, families are enrolled in PhilHealth under a program by the Department of Health.

Chiongbian said the provincial government spends P7 million each year for families not covered by PhilHealth.

The 200-bed capacity hospital costs P250 million and is funded by the provincial government and DOH.

The first phase of the facility—emergency room, clinical laboratory and nursing services—is about 95 percent complete, said the governor. Allan Nawal, Inquirer Mindanao