DOH-run hospitals

UNFORTUNATELY  in this Southeast Asian nation of more than 100 million people, many of them poor, there are owners and administrators of private hospitals who have absolutely no moral scruples.

Even during difficult times, like national health emergencies and natural disasters, these heartless and greedy Filipinos overprice their medicine and medical services beyond the reach of the poor.

And people find it difficult to understand why some public medical facilities turn away patients, particularly the poor, due to lack of hospital beds, health professionals and vital equipment.

Note that DOH-run hospitals often serve patients beyond their authorized bed capacities and are further constrained by the lack of adequate staffing and maintenance/operating resources.

We, thus, urge the 24-member Senate to hasten the approval of a bill seeking to make “easier” the process of increasing the bed capacity of a Department of Health (DOH)-operated hospital.

Authored by Senator Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go, Senate Bill (SB) No. 1226 authorizes the health department to increase the bed capacity and service capability of its retained hospitals.

Under current regulations, a DOH-run hospital can only increase its bed capacity and improve its service capability through legislation which, according to various quarters, is “certainly unacceptable.”

In filing SB No. 1226, Go, a former Special Assistant to the President, underscored the importance of having a more efficient way of enhancing the capabilities of government-operated hospitals.

“Ayusin po natin ang proseso para matulungan ang ating mga kababayan na kinakailangang magpagamot. Kapag maayos ang kalusugan natin, mas madali ang pag-asenso ng bayan,” he added.

Certainly, it’s high time to address the many problems confronting government hospitals across the country.