A national organization of health workers on Monday called on President-elect Rodrigo Duterte to help them save Dr. Jose Fabella Memorial Hospital from being abolished as it lambasted Health Secretary Janette Garin for issuing conflicting statements on the hospital’s status.
Robert Mendoza, president of the Alliance of Health Workers, said Duterte should intervene on the case of the hospital so it can continue to function as the country’s national maternity center.
They also called on the government to modernize the hospital at its present site using public funds and prevent employees from losing their tenure and for patients not to be disenfranchised from accessing health services.
“We also call on the government to work on the awarding of the lot to Fabella Hospital. This is what was done at Philippine children’s Medical Center,” said Mendoza.
Although the Aquino administration and Department of Health have been insisting that Fabella Hospital will not be privatized, Mendoza, however, said they believe the current projects are definitely under the general framework of privatization policy in the guise of modernization.
“This means more expensive or unaffordable health services for the people,” Mendoza said.
Mendoza took Garin to task for giving the public inconsistent statements about the impending abolition of the Fabella Hospital, which is also called as “baby factory.”
He stressed that last week, Garin told the press the issue is not the structural integrity of the four buildings but the real issue is the land of the Old Bilibid Compound including where Fabella Hospital stands.
The group quoted Garin as saying the land has been mortgaged twice.
“But now, she is ranting again that the real problem why the Fabella Hospital is to be transferred is because of structural integrity,” said Mendoza.
He said the people cannot be deceived and are not fooled by this administration’s blatant lies. What else will they call this if not an abolition? The safety of the buildings and the transfer are alibi of the DOH and Home Guaranty Corporation to cover the impending sale of of the Old Bilibid Compound where the Fabella Hospital sits, Mendoza said.
“Why does the DOH hastily want to transfer the services of the 700 bed maternity hospital temporarily to a 50-bed hospital at the Lung Center compound? “ asked Mendoza.
He expressed apprehensions about the maternal and child services if not all the employees and facilities will not be accommodated at the 50-bed Lung Center.
Because of this, Mendoza asked where will the July 2016 babies and onward be born if Fabella hospital is abolished?
He said the DOH always cites the DPWH report as the basis for transferring the maternity hospital temporarily to the Lung Center Compound. The report says that 4 out of the 8 buildings of Fabella Hospital have structural weakness in case a high intensity earthquake comes. It recommended retrofitting or transferring to other structures.
“Why not use the other four structures while fixing the unsound four structures in preparation for a strong earthquake? This was what Philippine Children’s Medical Center did so there was no disruption of services,” Mendoza said.
DOH spokesperson Dr. Lyndon Lee Suy said that there have been no talks on approving the closure of the maternity hospital. He does not know the Save Fabella Movement and other militant groups obtained the information the hospital will be abolished.
He assured the hospital will continue serving the public and giving affordable medicines.
He also allayed fears of the striking health workers, saying that should the abolition push through, the displaced workers will be temporarily absorbed by other government hospitals. They will then be brought back once the construction of the new Fabella Hospital is finished, the spokesman said.
