26 government hospitals to be privatized; subsidy cuts seen

Critics expect higher fees, service cuts for poor patients

TWO lawmakers on Friday denounced the planned withdrawal of some P4.7 billion in subsidies from 26 of the biggest public hospitals after a House panel approved their conversion into corporations to raise their own revenue from paying patients.

Bayan Muna Rep. Teddy Casiño and Agham Rep. Angelo Palmones said the conversion would result in higher hospital fees and reduced services to poor patients.

“Aside from higher fees, we would see these hospitals renting out space for coffee shops and restaurants just to earn revenues, instead of focusing on the welfare and well-being of the patients,” Casiño told the Manila Standard.

He accused the House leadership of railroading the passage of the bill, which was filed in March and was approved Wednesday after only one hearing without consulting the hospitals and other stakeholders.

House Bill 6099, principally authored by Bacolod City Rep. Anthony Golez and Negros Occidental Rep. Alfredo Maranon III, allows the 26 hospitals to contract for loans and grants and seal joint ventures to expand or build private rooms for paying patients.

“Essentially, this bill aims to convert the 26 government-run hospitals into independent money-making corporations. It will justify more cuts in government subsidies and the reduction of services to indigent patients,” Casiño said.

Palmones added: “The government cannot delegate its responsibility and constitutional mandate to provide basic health services to the poor. Let us abolish the Department of Health since we have no use for it anymore.”

But Health Secretary Enrique Ona endorsed the passage of the bill, and House Deputy Majority Leader Janette Garin said the conversion of the 26 hospitals would provide services to more indigent patients.

“When these hospitals become government-owned and -controlled corporations, they can raise their own revenues, contract loans and grants to expand and remedy the congestion in hospitals,” Garin told the Manila Standard.

“Private rooms will be added so we can accommodate more patients and not just leave them groping in the hospital lobbies because there aren’t enough rooms.”

Garin said most Philhealth card-bearing government employees such as teachers, soldiers and policemen usually availed themselves of private rooms in private hospitals, which meant that Philhealth’s funds were going to private hospitals instead of to the government.

“The annual subsidies can be used to provide indigent patients with Philhealth cards and the payment that will be made would go to these hospitals for more improved services,” Garin said.

She said the bill would weed out “ghost deliveries and ghost employees” from government hospitals.

“When these hospitals run as corporations, they cannot be complacent anymore because the officers and employees’ tenure would be strictly monitored and their performance audited,” Garin said.

But Casiño said the hasty approval of the bill in the House committee on health on Wednesday violated the rules of the House of Representatives.

He said stakeholders and the affected sectors were not given enough time to air their concerns.

The panel led by Maranon, he said, did not even include the measure as an agenda in the notice of meeting.

Casiño said he will demand that the bill be sent back to the committee next week for further deliberations.

The government hospitals targeted for conversion into corporations are the Jose Reyes Medical Center; San Lazaro Hospital; Cagayan Valley Medical Center; Veterans Regional Hospital; Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center; Ilocos Training and Regional Medical Center; Regional Medical Center; Dr. Paulino J. Garcia Memorial Research and Medical Center; Jose B. Lingad Memorial Medical Center; Bicol Medical Center (Naga City); Bicol Research Training and Teaching Hospital (Legaspi City); Quirino Memorial Medical Center; Rizal Medical Center; Amang Rodriguez Medical Center; Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center; Eastern Visayas Regional Medical Center; Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital; Western Visayas Medical Center; Northern Mindanao Medical Center; Southern Philippines Medical Center; Zamboanga City Medical Center; Cotobato Regional and Medical Center; CARAGA Regional Hospital; Davao Regional Hospital; and the Mayor Hilarion A. Ramiro, Sr. Regional Center and Training Hospital.

Casiño said the experience in four existing government-owned and controlled hospitals—the Philippine Heart Center, Kidney Center, Lung Center and Children’s Medical Center—showed that the need to earn revenues was displacing indigent patients in favor of the paying patients.

“The directors of the four existing GOCC hospitals are all complaining that they have to allot more beds and facilities to rich patients because the government is not giving them enough subsidies for the poor. The same thing will happen to the 26 public hospitals to be corporatized by this bill,” he said.

“What we need is to add to their funds, not to reduce services to the poor. The people who will be hurt by this bill are the poor who go to public hospitals.” –Christine F. Herrera, Manila Standard Today