By Herbert P. Mapiles
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga, (PNA) — Members of the Provincial Board have questioned the implementation of new rates and charges by the Jose B. Lingad Memorial Regional Hospital (JBLMRH), which they claim is directly affecting indigent patients in the province.
“We are allocating so much budget for JBLMRH, a government hospital, to fund the medical needs of the Kapampangans but we feel we are being subjected to abuse,” board member Cris Garbo, chairman of the committee on health, said.
Garbo said the provincial government has allocated some P30 million for the said hospital to support the medical needs of the people.
“Imagine, the normal delivery costs P8,000 from the previous P3,000 while caesarian delivery is now P18,000 from P10,000,” he said.
Dr. Nicolo Ganac, along with other executives of JBLMRH in a recent meeting with the provincial legislators, admitted that they have implemented new set of hospital rates and charges to cover the operational expenses of their hospital.
Ganac said that JBLMRH is spending at least P165-million for its operation and they are only getting P42-million share from the national government.
He explained that implementation of new rates and charges by JBLMRH was based on the provisions of Republic Act No. 10352, Republic Act No. 325 and Executive Order 197 series of 2000.
“Does this mean, you are recovering your losess to indigent people? board member Rosve Henson asked Ganac.
Henson assailed the validity of the new rates and charges after Ganac admitted that the same was not published in a newspaper of general circulation.
“Technically, the change or increase in rates and charges cannot be enforced. The lack of publication would affect its validity,” he said.
Ganac said the JBLMRH is a 250-bed capacity hospital that is currently serving 520 patients per day.