District hospitals must improve income - Guv

Governor Gwendolyn Garcia yesterday lamented to officials of the provincial health office and hospital supervisors that the 18 district hospitals of the province are non-earning entities.

Garcia met with Integrated Provincial Health Officer Cristina Giango and the supervisors of the 18 district hospitals.

The provincial government, according to Garcia, recovered only 10.5 percent or barely P19 million of the P182 million appropriated for the 18 district hospitals this year.

"It is sad to say that these hospitals remained a hemorrhage to our provincial resources and I gave a challenge to make them into economic enterprises," Garcia said.

The governor wondered why the district hospitals did not earn despite continued improvements such as the upgrading of equipment, improved deployment of personnel through outsourcing and the expanded coverage of the PhilHealth program for indigents.

She called on hospital heads to increase their respective hospital's revenues by encouraging indigents to enroll with PhilHealth so that the provincial government will stop shouldering the medical expenses of these people. PhilHealth pays for medical services, including laboratory and outpatient services, for indigents enrolled to the program.

"We recognize our civic and social duties but resources are never limitless where needs are immeasurable. Government should stop acting like charitable institutions," Garcia said.