The Manila Times

Specialty hospitals to expand in PH

RED MENDOZA

MORE specialty hospitals and centers will be built across the country as the Department of Health (DoH) has kickstarted the implementation of the Philippine Health Facility Development Plan (PHFDP).

Health Officer in Charge Maria Rosario Vergeire said the PHFDP will involve the creation of multi-specialty centers, with prioritization to neonatal, heart, lung, kidney and cancer specialty medical centers.

Vergeire said that the DoH has implemented the PHFDP even before President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. outlined his aim to create regional specialty hospitals during his first State of the Nation Address last month.

Among the regions that would be prioritized for the creation of specialty units are Ilocos, Cagayan Valley, Cordillera Administrative Region, Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon), Mimaropa (Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan), Bicol, and other hospitals in the Visayas and Mindanao.

She also identified hospitals such as the Baguio General Hospital, Mariano Marcos Hospital and Medical Center in Batac City, Ilocos Norte, Batangas Medical Center, Bicol Regional Teaching and Training Hospital in Legazpi City, Vicente Sotto Medical Memorial Center in Cebu, Northern Mindanao Medical Center in Cagayan de Oro, and the Southern Philippines Medical Center in Davao City where specialty services will be expanded.

She said the creation and upgrade of hospitals and centers for other specialty services will cost around P15 billion from 2021 to 2025.

“We will do this slowly, and this is not just [about health] infrastructure, but also the specialty capacity [of our hospitals],” Vergeire said during a press briefing on Friday.

She said that the DoH is trying to emulate the example of the Cotabato Regional Hospital, which is now capable of heart bypass and other specialized operations.

Meanwhile, Vergeire said Marcos has urged the DoH to strengthen their partnership with the private sector after their meeting with the health care group of the Private Sector Advisory Council (PSAC) last Thursday.

Members of the PSAC who attended the meeting were council head Sabin Aboitiz, Paolo Borromeo of Ayala Healthcare Holdings, the health care sector lead, Clinton Campos-Hess of Unilab, Dr. Nicanor Montoya from MediCard Philippines, and OCTA Research fellow Fr. Nicanor Austriaco.

Vergeire said that the DoH saw opportunities to create partnerships with the private sector, such as the improvement of service delivery networks which will enable expanded services in rural health units especially in far-flung areas.

“We urged them to help us so that we can have additional access to their services,” Vergeire said.

Vergeire also said that the council gave scientific recommendations to the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation on how claims and benefit packages are being calculated using the expertise of health maintenance organizations (HMOs).

They also discussed the private sector’s continued partnership with the government’s Covid-19 vaccination program and promotion in public health programs such as tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS prevention.

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2022-08-14T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-08-14T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://manilatimes.pressreader.com/article/281612424182385

The Manila Times