The new Philippine Heart Center (PHC) Annex in the Clark Freeport Zone, which is expected to boost the availability of cardiovascular medical treatments in the country, is set to be constructed in Pampanga.
This after President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. signed Executive Order (EO) No. 19 on Wednesday, paving the way for the construction of the new facility, which aims to provide patients with cardiovascular diseases with PHC service outside of Metro Manila.
Currently, such patients would have to travel to Quezon City to avail of the services of the PHC.
“With world-class highways and an international airport, the Clark Freeport Zone is a gateway to Central Luzon. As such, establishing a specialty hospital annex in Clark Freeport Zone will bring quality healthcare closer to the people,” Marcos said.
The President stressed the importance of improving the accessibility of PHC services, citing data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) that showed cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death in the country as of October 31, 2022.
The PHC was tasked to coordinate with the Department of Health (DOH) and other concerned government agencies “to establish, manage, and administer PHC Clark and amend its existing hospital development plan to include the proposed programs and initiatives for the PHC Clark, consistent with the Philippine Health Facility Development Plan 2020-2040.”
The operation expenses of PHC Clark will be sourced from DOH and/or the annual corporate operating budget of the PHC.
EO 19 also authorized PHC to enter into with other government agencies for the purpose of establishing and operating the PHC Clark.