Friday, May 25, 2012

House approves bill converting gov't hospitals into GOCCs


By Paolo Romero (The Philippine Star) Updated May 26, 2012 12:00 AM Comments (0) View comments

MANILA, Philippines - The House committee on health approved this week the Hospital Corporatization Bill that would convert state medical institutions into government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs) to help them be financially self-sustaining instead of relying on subsidies.
Bacolod City Rep. Anthony Golez, vice chairman of the panel, said House Bill 6069 or “An Act Creating National Government Hospital Corporations” seeking to boost the financial health of public hospitals was passed by the committee chaired by Negros Occidental Rep. Alfredo Marañon III.
The two lawmakers are authors of the measure.
“The corporatization of government hospitals will lead to better management of funds that in turn will result to more services for poor patients,” Golez said.
“The conversion of the hospitals into corporations shall promote said hospitals to be better managed and have more opportunities to expand their income and ultimately their services and facilities. When that happens, more and better services and facilities will be provided to indigent patients. This bill is likewise in consonance and will support the health agenda of President Aquino,” he said.
Also present when the panel approved the measures was Jossel Ebesate, president of the Alliance of Health Workers.
Ebesate warned the proposed bill might affect services to the poor and the security tenure of hospital employees.
Golez however gave assurances that the bill is not for privatization but to convert the 25 state hospitals in the bill to GOCCs.
He said the measure will give the hospitals more autonomy in their management and can conduct income-generating activities that will be primarily used for indigent patients.
Iloilo Rep. Janette Garin said it would be better to corporatize these hospitals for better management and to allow them to have more funding to expand their services and reach out to the poor.
Garin and Golez both stressed that employees of the hospitals will greatly benefit from the proposed measure since there is a provision that allows such hospitals to also give bonuses to their staff.
Health Secretary Enrique Ona expressed support for the bill.
Ona, who was present during the approval of the bill, stressed that when passed into law it will maximize efficiency in the hospitals.
Sen. Franklin Drilon filed a counterpart bill in the Senate.

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