Hospital ownership transfer discussed

ORMOC CITY, Philippines — Formal talks for the transfer of ownership of the Ormoc District Hospital (ODH) from the Leyte provincial government to the Ormoc City government is now underway.

Vice Mayor Nepomuceno Aparis, who was named by Mayor Eric Codilla to head the city panel, said he and provincial administrator Vince Imnas, head of the provincial panel, have opened the discussion last week.

Aparis said both panels had agreed to sign first a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to be ratified by the Provincial Board and the City Council with resolutions authorizing the panels to enter into an agreement for the said transfer.

"This is to ensure that all concerns must be tackled prior to the signing of any memorandum of agreement (MOA)," said Aparis in a press conference called for the purpose.

In the initial talks, Leyte province will transfer to the city the operation, management and facilities of ODH. The province will retain the assets and equipment but will let the city use these temporarily, while the fate of the employees will still be subject for discussion.

"Practically there is no problem on the transfer, only details," said the vice mayor.

The MOU signing is scheduled on February 28, while the MOA signing is set on June 15, before the fiesta celebrations of Ormoc on June 29 and of Tacloban City on June 30.

Aparis said both camps also agreed to start the transfer's transition period from July 1 to December 31 of this year. The Ormoc side suggested the dates so that the money allocation for the ODH will be included in the City Council's deliberation of the 2012 budget, he said.

ODH has been serving patients from the city and the towns of Merida, Isabel, Kananga and Albuera. Imnas had raised this concern but Aparis assured him that the city will not discriminate patients from outside of Ormoc. This matter will also be embodied in the MOU, he said.

Mayor Codilla told The FREEMAN, in a separate interview, that he and Governor Jericho Petilla met during the visit of President Aquino on January 28 in the city on his way to St. Bernard.

In a casual talk, Codilla opened to Petilla the plan of Ormoc to construct a city hospital, but the governor later invited the city government to discuss about the ownership transfer of the ODH to the city. The exploratory talks took place on February 9.

 "With the favorable result in the initial meeting, the city might forego the plan to create a city hospital and focus our resources on ODH instead," Codilla said.

ODH occupies a 2-hectare donated lot within Ormoc City. The Capitol spent over P50 million for its operations and more than P42 million for personnel services. It only has P15 million income.