Pangasinan sets pace in healthcare delivery

MANILA, Philippines - Pangasinan has dramatically raised the level of its healthcare services, with one of its government hospitals now on the threshold of becoming a full-fledged medical center.

 With additional personnel and more sophisticated medical equipment already in the pipeline, the Pangasinan Provincial Hospital (PPH) in San Carlos City will evolve into a medical center capable of accommodating more patients and treating more complicated illnesses. 

“With their upgraded diagnostic capabilities, manned by a highly motivated team of doctors, specialists and healthcare workers, all our hospitals are now operating  way beyond their approved bed capacities,” Gov. Amado Espino Jr. said in an exclusive interview.

 “My legacy will be defined by the quality of healthcare services we deliver to the people of Pangasinan,” the governor said.

Thus, healthcare is on top of his priority concerns because he  believes that an impoverished patient who cannot afford to go to a hospital must be the most unfortunate person on earth.

“Poor patients need the government intervention the most,” Gov. Espino said.

The 14 government hospitals in Pangasinan saw major changes that redeemed them from dire state of mismanagement and decrepit structures to become “highly patronized centers of government health care services”.

The PPH in San Carlos City had evolved from its state of neglect and disrepair to having massive renovation and reforms soon after Espino took the reins of provincial governance in 2007. 

This resulted in the acquisition of new and sophisticated gadgets, as well as the recruitment of more workers to cope with the sudden surge in patient traffic.

Dr. Policarpio Manuel, PPH assistant chief, recalled that the governor himself drew the renovation plan and closely monitored the civil works, sometimes coming in for a look-see during unholy hours.

Manuel said the changes started with the lighting system followed by the concreting of the pathways.

 At present, the entire PPH consists of 21 buildings, one of them houses 14 dialysis machines, making the hospital the “most modern and most unique” of its kind among local government units in the country. 

There are also 32-inch LCD television sets to entertain patients while undergoing dialysis tests, or waiting for their turn at the gadgets hence, there is no chance for them to be impatient.

The new PPH with an approved bed capacity of 150 has been attending to as many as 480 patients daily, Manuel said.

The patient volume rose from 159,000 in 2006 to 463,000 in 2011.

Manuel said the reforms have inspired the whole PPH staff and support personnel to be more dedicated to their jobs and more responsive to the needs of the patients.

Government annual subsidy to the public hospitals also grew from P140M in 2006 to P317.5M last year.

The hospital upgrading program was complemented by an aggressive expansion of PhilHealth coverage, making Pangasinan a top performer in this field.

As of last count, there are already 295,422 certified indigent families in Pangasinan already insured in PhilHealth. The figure included last year’s new enrollees sponsored by the Department of Health’s National Household Targeting System.

Owing to these positive developments, Espino is confident the poorest of the poor among his constituents can now avail themselves of quality healthcare services.

Espino said his advocacies are consistent with “tuwid na daan” being championed by the Aquino administration as a pillar of good governance.

Meanwhile, the community-based Botika ng Bayan likewise kept expanding its coverage from 273 in 2007 to 691 outlets as of last year.

Espino said Pangasinan has been adjudged national champion in children nutrition in 2009, and with the lowest malnutrition rate of 4.16 percent in 2010 in Region 1.

“It is the job of the government to take care of the poor. Otherwise, who would take care of them?” Espino said.