The modernization of hospitals and medical facilities under the Department of Health (DOH) that are set to be offered to investors through the government’s Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Program will cost at least P40 billion.
According to Health Undersecretary Teodoro J. Herbosa, the broadening infrastructure gap in the health system—a ratio of five beds to 10,000 population—warrants the expansion, modernization and improvement of health-services facilities.
“The modernization of all government-owned hospitals, of which we targeted around 20 with strategic business case and plan, off the bat, is around P2 billion to P5 billion per hospital. So if you have 20, you need to have P40 billion to P50 billion to modernize,” Herbosa said.
Among the hospitals identified by Herbosa that will undergo modernization and are currently in different stages of the PPP process are the Tri-Medical Complex in the Tayuman Compound of the DOH; the Cotabato Regional Medical Center; the Eastern Visayas Regional Medical Center; and the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center.
Four modernization projects have already been awarded, said Herbosa, including the Philippine Orthopedic Center and the East Avenue Medical Center.
According to the build-operate-transfer (BOT) arrangement between the DOH and the private companies making up the consortium that won the contract for the modernization of the Philippine Orthopedic Center, the private group will design, build, finance, operate and maintain the facility for 25 years. At the end of the 25-year concession period, the hospital will be returned to the DOH.
Projects undergoing construction, meanwhile, are the modernization of the Bicol Medical Center, Cagayan Valley Medical Center and the Cotabato Regional Medical Center.
The budget of the health department has grown by five times since the Aquino administration began—from a budget of P20 billion in 2010 to the current year’s approved budget of around P100 billion.
According to former Health Secretary Enrique Ona, all the DOH hospitals are eligible for PPP and there are options on how to subject the updating of DOH hospitals for the PPP process.
There are 72 DOH-run hospitals and more than 700 district and provincial hospitals across the country.
Catherine N. Pillas
1 comment
When these hospitals are run by private sectors, are the poor patient will going to pay their hospital bill or still the govt to shoulder their bill as what is happening now.?