Cebu picked as pilot province for health program

CEBU, Philippines — Cebu has been picked as one of the pilot provinces in the Philippines for the initial implementation of the newly-approved Universal Health Care, which will soon overhaul the country's "poor" healthcare system.

At yesterday’s media forum at the Capitol, Cebu Provincial Health Office (PHO) Chief Dr. Rene Catan revealed that the province advances for the roll out implementation because of its good performance and improvements in terms of service delivery, and medical facilities, among others.

He said the province has 1,800-strong healthcare workforce. Its 16 district and provincial hospitals have also been continuously upgrading and have been equipped with state-of-the-art facilities, he added.

Catan said the province also offers variety of services and programs, including free hospitalization.

"These are indications that Cebu is on the right track and it has capabilities in implementing the Universal Health Care Act," he said during the Capitol-aided media forum dubbed "Kasayuran sa Kalambuan."

He recalled that through an amended ordinance enacted last year, hospital expenses both for indigent and regular patients are free of charge so as long as they are admitted to the charity ward.

He said this policy has been instituted even before the passage of the Universal Health Care Act in February 2019.

Catan said the national law provides for the free access and quality healthcare services for every Filipino being one of the individuals' fundamental rights.

Because there are several gaps and lapses in the country's healthcare system, he said, the law will bring a change and shift the healthcare services delivery to its maximum capacity.

One of the primary solutions, he said, is that the government will shoulder the hospital and healthcare service expenses through PhilHealth. Therefore, Catan said, hospital administrators and health workers must provide quality services since PhilHealth will already take care of the expenses while individuals must enroll themselves to the institution.

And one important requirement for the pilot implementation is the setting up of an integrated registry for the entire province to which the PHO has been working on.

Catan explained that the registry system, which aims to capture the population and the health status of every individual, produces health cards for every citizen in the province regardless of his or her political views or affiliations.

He said in principle, every individual is entitled to avail of any free service or hospitalization but the health card can allow a holder to claim for his right to benefit from them. — KBQ (FREEMAN)