House OKd bill setting up specialty health centers

The House of Representatives on Monday approved on third and final reading House Bill No. 7751, or the proposed Department of Health Specialty Centers Act, that would set up specialized care centers in hospitals nationwide, making them accessible to patients in the provinces.

According to House Speaker Martin Romualdez, one of the bill’s authors, “We have specialty hospitals built during the time of the father of President Marcos … but all of these are in Quezon City.

So our people in the regions and in Visayas and Mindanao who need the services of these health facilities will have to travel all the way to Quezon City to avail of their services.”

Romualdez was referring to the Philippine Heart Center, National Kidney and Transplant Institute, Lung Center of the Philippines, Philippine Children’s Medical Center and the Philippine Orthopedic Hospital, all located in Quezon City.

HB 7751 would task the DOH to set up specialized care centers in selected hospitals in every region.

—Jeannette I. Andrade

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