PRIVATE ROOMS IN PUBLIC HOSPITALS

PRIVATE ROOMS IN PUBLIC HOSPITALS In theory, all services in all public hospitals should be 100% for free, meaning that patients need not pay, not even a single centavo. But that is only in theory as of now, because we are still very far from that becoming a reality. Also in theory, the Congress is supposed to appropriate 100% of the budget requirements of all public hospitals, but that is also very far from becoming a reality. Truth to tell, having private rooms in public hospitals is an oxymoron, but that is the sad reality that we are facing now. Hospital administrators of public hospitals are quick to explain that they are forced to go into the practice of offering private rooms because they earn additional revenues to augment the limited budgets that they are getting from the Congress. Putting two and two together, is it not that the simple solution is for the Congress to fully fund them? The practice of charging for private rooms in public hospitals is not the only problem. As almost everyone knows, patients of public hospitals almost always must pay for their medicine supplies and for their laboratory and diagnostics services, again for the same reason as budget shortages of public hospitals. Quite sadly, what almost always happens is that the recovery of patients is delayed, because the families of the patients must look for money to buy what they need. And in the case of surgery and other similar operations, some public hospitals are apparently forced to charge professional fees to the doctors, because the public hospitals also do not have the budgets to pay them for their professional fees. The sad news is that issuers of Guarantee Letters (GLs) such as PCSO are also not willing to pay for these professional fees (PFs). There is some good news in the horizon, because House Speaker Martin Romualdez has reportedly convinced the PCSO to pay for the PFs, perhaps not all of it, but even so, that is already a big help. PCSO General Mel Robles has also welcomed the idea, and that is good news for those who are applying for PCSO assistance. When I was a Director of the PCSO, I always took pity on the families of patients who were very happy about getting financial assistance from the PCSO through the GLs but were nonetheless very sad that they still must worry about paying for the PFs. I do not know what led Speaker Romualdez to make such a move, but I pray that God will bless him for what he has done. I also pray that the Lord will enlighten Romualdez some more, so that he will take the lead of revamping the budget appropriations process, so that all public hospitals will be able to give free medical services to all our citizens, most specially our indigent compatriots. I also pray that the Senators and Congressmen who are kind enough to allocate their discretionary funds to issue their own GLs will find it in their hearts to also decide to pay for the PFs as well. That will certainly make a lot of people happy. IKE SENERES/9-15-24