"Maria Ressa's accusations against the Southern Philippines Medical Center are unwarranted."
"Maria Ressa's accusations against the Southern Philippines Medical Center are unwarranted."
Mindanawons are on a warpath. Citizens of the country’s second-biggest island are aghast at insinuations, if not downright accusations, that they are getting undeserved favors from the Duterte administration which is specially grating at this time of pandemic. They are particularly angry that Rappler’s Maria Ressa, the darling of Western media and a regular in the anti Duterte/rescue-the-country-from-his-dictatorial-rule circuit, has once again bombarded them with what later turned out as a lie. It was an unfair accusation, a half-truth at best.
In a Twitter post, Ressa charged that the Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC) located in Davao City got the biggest share of the PHilHealth’s controversial P30 billion Interim Reimbursement Scheme (IRM) funds. This was set aside in the early stages of our COVID-19 response plan to prepare the country’s health system to handle the pandemic. The innuendo was the Davao based SPMC bagged the biggest share simply because it was located in that city where the Dutertes reigned supreme. The anti-Duterte trolls took off from there, citing another Davao-based hospital, the Davao Regional Medical Center (DRMC) which got P209 million, as proof that these facilities were getting more than what they really deserved. It turned out the accusations were misplaced and out and out unwarranted.
It is true that SPMC is located in Davao City. It is also true that it got the biggest share of the IRM. What the critics forgot to even mention is that it is the country’s biggest hospital with a 1,200 bed (gearing up to 1,500) capacity. It is also a kind of all-in complex with its own Heart Center, Lung Center and Kidney Center catering not only to Davaoenos but to all 25 million and counting Mindanawons. On the other hand, the DRMC is located in Tagum City, an hour away from Davao City, and as a tertiary hospital caters to the other parts of the Davao region and the Caraga area which is hours away towards the northeast part of the island.
What the critics also failed to mention was that these hospitals and a number of others, like PGH which is the second biggest hospital in the country with a 1,100-bed capacity, cater to the poorest of the poor and marginalized sectors.
Thus, unlike most private hospitals, they are therefore hard pressed, maybe even forbidden, from “detaining” patients who may be unable to pay for their hospitalization. So, if by any chance their regular allocation from the national budget and PhilHealth is delayed, then they have to make do still. They cannot close shop.
We are now told that the funding they got from the IRM consisted not just of COVID- related expenses but reimbursements for medical care they have done months or even years back before the pandemic set in, so they can be propped up to handle an expected deluge of cases including COVID. Had the DoH and PhilHealth explained that the IRM was some sort of a cash advance for upcoming Covid cases and partly for reimbursements to get the hospitals on “war footing,” as it were, a lot of the hullabaloo would have been avoided.
But no matter. The bigger and most insidious play was that of Ressa and company who simply went on the attack without bothering to check their facts. Which is precisely what Doctor Bernard Chiew, a top Davao-based cardiologist, decried in his post.
“Here are the facts: SPMC is in Davao City; DRMC is in another province in Tagum City. SPMC is the biggest government hospital in the country with 1,500 beds. PGH is second with 1,110 beds.”
How big is SPMC? For the Department of Internal Medicine alone which is largely responsible for taking case of Covid patients, there are 83 medical residents and 95 medical consultants. Our department is bigger than the whole medical staff and trainees of most hospitals. Total number of residents/fellows and consultants for all the departments of SPMC? 475 residents and fellows, 399 consultants.”
“SPMC is the only government hospital in Davao City, serving the whole of Mindanao as a medical center. For SPMC, there is no such thing as ‘puno na ang hospital, lumipat na lang kayo sa iba.’ The buck stops here.”
“As for COVID, SPMC is the only COVID center in the Davao area. Because we are smart here in Davao, we centralized the treatment of COVID. Until recently, private hospitals were not allowed to admit COVID. Now, only mild cases of COVID are allowed in private hospitals. It is still SPMC which is ground zero for COVID treatment. By doing this, we are able to maximize manpower and resources and streamline our response.”
“SPMC is not just an ‘infirmary clinic’ that others make it appear to be. Since the start of the Covid pandemic, on average, SPMC is taking care of more than 130 in patient COVID cases daily (about 100 adult and 30 pediatric cases). This does not include the hundreds of other non-COVID cases in the hospital.”
“In Metro Manila unlike in Davao City’s SPMC, PGH does not bear the brunt of all COVID cases. COVID cases are being admitted in private hospitals and other government hospitals. Actually, Metro Manila got the biggest share of COVID funds at P592 million (PGH, National Kidney and Transplant Institute and Quirino Medical Center), SPMC got P329 million.”
“For those of you who do not analyze before commenting, it is either you are ignorant or intellectually dishonest. There is still hope for the ignorant but there is a special place in hell for the intellectually dishonest.”
“PGH was mentioned just to give context to this post since the ignorant and intellectually dishonest Maria Ressa contrasted SPMC to PGH. I just wanted to show how much SPMC has developed and improved in the last 20 years. Besides, our colleagues in PGH are our friends. Most of the consultants at SPMC had their training in PGH. This is not about SPMC vs PGH. It will never be SPMC vs PGH. “
“As for the anomalies in PHIC (PhilHealth), we do not care whether the culprits will rot in jail or burn in hell (just like the intellectually dishonest ones). The corruption at PHIC must stop.”
Wow. That was a mouthful from an angry Mindanawon. A top cardiologist at that. And he should be commended for his steadfast adherence to the truth and dedication to his chosen profession. Which is why another Mindanawon, Mindanao Development Authority (MinDa) Chair and former Agriculture Secretary Manny Pinol, rhymed in and chastised Ressa for her unprofessional conduct.
Himself a journalist at heart, Secretary Manny noted that “Ressa’s statement was laced with malice and offended Minadanawons specially SPMC’s health workers.” In her eagerness to put the administration in a bad light, Pinol noted, she abandoned a basic tenet in journalism – check, double check and if needed, triple check.
Noting the role of SPMC in providing much needed medical care to the 25 million Mindanawons, Pinol advised: “To the people of Mindanao, SPMC is not just 'a Davao hospital' but a 'salvation center' where all of the most serious medical cases are referred to — from cancer to injuries from accidents, wounds from gunshot and bombings and, yes, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19…The facility is a "symbol of hope and salvation for people in distress".
Turning to his fellow Mindanawons, Pinol hurled this challenge “We really have to work harder in educating people, including Maria Ressa, so that they will know that Mindanao is actually a better place to live in.” To be clear, we really have to do a lot more educating and informing people, not just Ressa but the rest of the country and the world that the Philippines is one of the best countries to live in.