Benguet caretaker congressman and Anti-Crime and Terrorism through Community Involvement and Support (ACT-CIS) Party-list Rep. Eric Yap secured from the health department at least P700 million for the medical needs of indigent patients confined in the Benguet General Hospital (BeGH) and the five provincial government-operated district hospitals for this year.
Yap, who chairs the powerful House committee on appropriations, stated that this fund is apart from the funds he secured for the medical requirements of bonafide Benguet residents who are confined in specialty hospitals in Baguio City and Metro Manila to get quality medical attention from various health experts for the immediate treatment of their illnesses.
The lawmaker claimed Benguet got the highest allocation for medical assistance of indigent patients under the health department over the past 3 decades.
Aside from the BeGH, the 5 other district hospitals provided with substantial funding support for the medical assistance for indigent patients include the Atok District Hospital in Atok, the Northern Benguet District Hospital in Buguias, the Dennis Molintas Memorial Hospital in Bokod, the Kapangan District Hospital in Kapangan and the Itogon District Hospital in Itogon.
Congressman Yap also worked out the establishment of an office with personnel at the BeGH for patients to conveniently process requirements for medical assistance for indigents and efforts are being done for the put up of the same in the different district hospitals with the overall support of the concerned local governments to unburden needy people from travelling to the capital town just to get such support from the program.
According to him, the effective and efficient delivery of quality health care services to the people of Benguet is one of his primordial concerns thus he is striving to secure sufficient funds to sustain the quality health care services being provided by the government hospitals
Congressman Yap emphasized that the services of government hospitals should be at par with the similar services offered by private hospitals thus his mission to continuously make representations with the health department for the needed support to equip the government hospitals in the province with facilities to meet the complex needs of the patients thereat.
He added that the proposed re-nationalization of the BeGH will definitely improve the quality of health care services of the hospital with the expected expansion of the facilities to cater to the increased demand for critical services for the needs of the patients seeking medical attention from the facility.
(Dex See | Joseph Manzano, RPN DZBS Baguio OIC)