Davao City Rep. Paolo Duterte on Saturday pressed the passage of a bill proposing the establishment of specialty hospitals in major regions in the country to bring quality healthcare closer to people living outside Metro Manila.
Duterte, co-author of House Bill (HB) 6857, cited the need to establish these specialty hospitals in Northern Luzon, Southern Luzon, Visayas, Northern, and Southern Mindanao.
The type of specialty hospital would be determined by the Department of Health based on its assessment of the prevailing illnesses in the area.
Such specialty hospitals, Duterte said, include branches of the Philippine Heart Center, the National Kidney and Transplant Institute, the Lung Center of the Philippines, the Philippine Children’s Medical Center, and the projected Philippine Cancer Center.
The bill’s authors pointed out that existing specialty hospitals are all located in Metro Manila.
“In order to afford the expertise of [these] hospitals’ medical professionals and its advanced amenities and equipment, patients are being encumbered by the additional expenses on transportation and accommodation for their medical needs to be catered, most especially those that are from far-flung areas or provinces,” the bill stated.
Duterte sponsored the measure, along with Benguet Rep. Eric Yap, and ACT-CIS Reps. Jeffrey Soriano and Edvic Yap.
Duterte said their proposed law will “ensure that affordable, quality healthcare is accessible to most Filipinos.”
“Many Filipinos flock to the specialty hospitals located in Metro Manila because they offer quality medical care and treatment that are more affordable than those available in private hospitals. Establishing branches of the Heart Center, the Kidney Institute and other government-run specialty hospitals in strategic areas in the country will help address the widening inequity in healthcare,” Duterte said.
HB 6857 mandated that the specialty hospitals should be built within three years after its enaction.
On top of operating as specialty hospitals, the regional branches are also tasked under the bill to promote, encourage and engage in scientific research on the prevention of heart, kidney, liver, cancer, and pulmonary diseases.
The regional branches should also aim to, among others, assist universities, hospitals and research institutions in the studies of these diseases; and encourage or undertake the training of physicians, other medical personnel, and social workers on the practical and scientific conduct and implementation of services related to these diseases.
Under the bill, all tax exemptions and privileges enjoyed by the existing Metro Manila-based specialty hospitals shall also be availed by their regional branches.
“The national government shall constitute the necessary land, building, equipment and facilities, to the regional branches of the specialty hospital, and shall pay such obligations for real, personal and mixed properties arising from such undertaking under a deferred payment arrangement within five (5) years at a preferred rate of interest,” according to the bill.
It also appropriates P5 billion as the national government’s contribution for the “initial establishment, operations and maintenance” of the regional specialty hospitals. The succeeding budgets of the regional specialty hospitals shall be provided through the General Appropriations Act.
