..THE Department of Health (DOH) in Davao Region said converting public hospitals into corporations will improve medical services contradicting the stand of Gabriela party-list Southern Mindanao.
Giving his full support to House Bill No. 6069, “an act corporatizing public hospitals,” DOH-Davao Region Director Abdullah Dumama said this will bring better prospects for health care and medical facilities to public hospitals nationwide.
House Bill No. 6069, authored by Bacolod Representative Anthony Golez, was already passed in the Lower House last month.
Senate Bill No. 3130 or the National Government Hospital Corporate Restructuring Act of Senator Franklin Drilon will be presented soon after the opening of Congress on July 31.
"Hospitals will be better managed, mas maganda ang facilities. It will become patient-centered," Dumama said.
He said the National Government's move to corporatize the public hospitals is a part of President Benigno Aquino III administration's public-private-partnership.
For her part, Gabriela secretary general Mary Ann Sapar said that turning public hospitals into corporations will deny Filipinos access to health care, adding that this move belies their goal to lower mortality rate in the Philippines.
There are a total of 26 public hospitals in the government, two of which are located in the region -- Southern Philippines Medical Center in Davao City and Davao Regional Hospital in Tagum City. (Antonio L. Colina IV)
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