PB budget committee defers OK of proposed P1.4-B health budget

Complaints against doctors, presence of hospital chiefs cited

COMPLAINTS about doctors in provincial and district hospitals asking relatives of children six years old and under to pay for their professional fees and the necessity of hospital chiefs to be present in the budget hearing have prompted the Provincial Board (PB) Committee on Budget and Appropriations to defer the approval of the P1.4-billion 2018 proposed budget for the Capitol’s health program.

PB ex-officio member Celestino Martinez III

“First, this is budget concerning them — their hospitals. They should attend the budget hearing. Second, we want them to clarify and shed light about complaints we received alleging that some doctors are still asking for fees despite an existing ordinance for free hospitalization for children zero to six years old,” said PB Member Celestino Martinez III, Committee on Budget and Appropriations chairperson on asking hospital chiefs to attend the budget hearing on Friday.

At P1.4 billion, the Capitol’s entire health program, which includes Provincial Health Office (PHO) and hospitals in the province, has the largest share of the proposed P4.8-billion budget for 2018 of the Cebu provincial government.

The PHO gets an allocation of P773,903,275.34 for the fiscal year 2018.

It is 63 percent higher compared to the current year’s budget which is only at P488,129,436.10.

Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III said in earlier interviews that he is prioritizing the upgrading of hospitals to medical centers and improve all 16 provincial and district hospitals in the province.

With this, P632.1 million or 81.2 percent of the PHO’s proposed budget will go to operations, maintenance and improvements of these hospitals.

During yesterday’s budget hearing, Martinez said that despite the PHO having a large budget, the PB still received complaints about doctors violating the existing provincial ordinance on providing free health care to children six years old and below.

“The parents are afraid of paying the professional fees, and that’s why they do not want to have their children admitted in the hospitals,” said Martinez.

Last June 2015, the PB passed an ordinance granting free hospitalization for sick children ages below six years old admitted in provincial and district hospitals of Cebu.

Martinez also happened to sponsor the ordinance and stated that free medical care is needed for children during their “sensitive and formative” years.

“They should not be billed nor be made to pay for any other medical, incidental or miscellaneous expenses,” the ordinance stated.

Those violating this ordinance may face a suspension of six months. This may include the hospital chief, any of its employees and other medical professionals in the state-run health center.