Gov’t Hiding Real Plans for Proposed Integration - Health Workers

Health workers and union representatives of the National Kidney and Transplant Institute, Philippine Heart Center, Lung Center of the Philippines, the Philippine Children’s Medical Center and the East Avenue Medical Center (EAMC), which will be affected by the planned integration and creation of the Philippine Center for Specialized Health Care (PCSHC), said that the Department of Health (DoH) is deceiving them when it claimed that the only objective of the planned integration is to achieve world class health care for the affluent as well as the poor.

BY AUBREY SC MAKILAN
Bulatlat

Health workers and union representatives of four specialty hospitals, classified as government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCC), and the East Avenue Medical Center (EAMC), which will be affected by the planned integration and the creation of the Philippine Center for Specialized Health Care (PCSHC), said that the Department of Health (DoH) is deceiving them when it claimed that it is unaware of the proposed bill; that there will be no lay-offs; and when it said that the only objective of the planned integration is to achieve world class health care for the affluent as well as the poor.

Unaware?

In a dialogue held at the EAMC on Oct. 17, Department of Health (DoH) Undersecretary Dr. Jade del Mundo, explained to the health workers the plan to integrate the National Kidney and Transplant Institute (NKTI), Philippine Heart Center (PHC), Lung Center of the Philippines (LCP), Philippine Children’s Medical Center (PCMC) and East Avenue Medical Center (EAMC). Except EAMC, the hospitals are classified as GOCCs.

However, representatives from these hospitals and the Alliance of Health Workers (AHW) saw the irony when Del Mundo said she is unaware of the proposed bill now pending before the House of Representatives.

“Paano s’ya nagiging mouthpiece ng gobyerno kung di n’ya alam,” (How can she be a mouthpiece of the government if she does not know about it?) said Remy Ismael, AHW national secretary.

Moreover, the health workers were confused when the DoH official said she is not in favor of the bill but kept on convincing them to support the department’s integration plan.

“Mahirap yatang paniwalaan ‘yun a. Malaking panlilinlang iyon.  Paano nila hindi malalaman ang bill e yung ginagawa nila ay nakaayon naman dun,”(That is hard to believe. We are being deceived.  How can they claim that they are not aware of the bill when everything that they are doing is consistent with it.) they said.

Creation of a special committee

House Bill (HB) 5741 and Senate Bill (SB) 1118 have been filed to integrate the five hospitals and pave the way for the creation of the Philippine Center for Specialized Health Care (PCSHC).

But even in the absence of a law to implement the integration, the so-called Integration Office was already in place at the NKTI, allegedly funded by the four GOCC hospitals.

Aside from this, the health workers were shown a DoH resolution “creating a special (ad hoc) committee to develop and implement an integration plan for certain services, functions and capabilities” of the four specialty hospitals and the EAMC.

The special committee ─ to be chaired by the DoH undersecretary from the Office of Special Concerns, and the executive directors of the five hospitals as members ─ will carry on with its tasks even with “no legislative action,” it stated.

Addressed to the Board of Trustees (BOT) of the specialty hospitals, the resolution stated that committee will address “a common need to evaluate the pros and cons of sharing limited services and facilities with each other, and joining efforts and resources towards the formulation and adoption of plans and programs to ensure an efficient and effective delivery of health services in the face of an ever burgeoning population.”

Furthermore, the resolution authorizes the special committee “to issue such orders or directives enjoining any and all officers and employees” of the specialty hospitals for the accomplishment of the committee’s tasks.

The resolution was signed by no less than Health Sec. Francisco Duque III, Jose Tale, deputy executive secretary of the Office of the President, and DoH undersecretaries del Mundo, Milagros Fernandez, Alexander Padilla, and Ethelyn Nieto during a regular meeting of the BOT last July 6 at the LCP

Lay-off

The resolution also stated that “the proposed reconfiguration of existing structures through integration is a befitting response to the call for institutional strengthening and streamlining program of the government under Executive Order No. 366.”

Del Mundo however denied there would be mass lay-off of employees, said Ema Manuel, AHW president.

“Syempre, para mapapayag nila ang tao, ‘di naman nila sasabihin kung ano ang mga pangit na apekto nito,” (Of course they would not include the negative effects of the plan to ensure that the affected sectors would agree to it.) she said.

The health workers said this will result to streamlining or re-assignment of personnel and that the policy regarding hiring and firing would depend on the new leadership.

Also, they said there will be no guarantee that the five employees associations will still be maintained because these hospitals will operate as one under the name PCSHC.

Privatization in disguise

Attached to the resolution was an abstract titled “Hospital Integration.” In the one-page resolution, it was stated that the integration of some units of services “has become the best option in the face of economic difficulties that plaque (sic) the country.”  

“’Yan ang concept nila, a ng pag-generate ng income para later wala nang budget na mangagaling sa gobyerno,” (Their concept is to generate income so that eventually no budget would come from the government.)  said Lorna dela Cruz, president of the LCP Employees Association and head nurse of the St. Therese Isolation Unit.

“Ito ay unti-unting pribatisasyon para di magmukhang outright sale,” (This is a gradual privatization process that is not an outright sale.) said Manuel in a separate caucus after the dialogue.

Furthermore, the abstract stated that as a developing country, “it is even more imperative for us to institute radical reforms if we are to attain a world class healthcare delivery system that can cater not only to the affluent but also to the poor.”

Manuel said that there’s nothing wrong about dreaming of achieving world class health care.

“Pero kung papasok ka sa kumpetisyon, mangangapital ka at magpapabagayad ka,” she said, “Dahil gobyerno ka, hindi ka dapat nag-iisip ng negosyo o kumpetisyon dahil pera ng taong bayan ang ginagastos mo.” (If the plan is to compete with the world’s best, there will be a need to raise capital and therefore charge for health services.  A government should not think of pursuing a business or competing because it is the people’s money that it is using.)

Manuel said that in the proposed integration, which is in line with the government’s medical tourism program, at least 10 percent of a hospital’s bed capacity is to be allocated for medical tourism patients.

Added to this, the AHW also said that the proposed inclusion of representatives of the private sector in the Board of Directors of the PCSHC would accelerate the commodification and commercialization of health services.

“Imbes na magnegosyo sa pagbibigay ng health services, dapat ay bantayan na lang ng gobyerno ang performance (ng mga tao nito) lalo na ang mga corrupt,” (Instead of making business out of health services, the government should just monitor the performance of its officials and personnel, especially the corrupt.) she said.

She stressed that “if the objective is to achieve effective and efficient delivery of health care, it should increase the budget allocated for health services instead of privatization.”

The employees’ associations of the five hospitals would be conducting assemblies to educate their members regarding the integration plan. Bulatlat

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