An anonymous letter-complaint was filed at the Office of the Ombudsman last June 30, urging for an immediate investigation on the alleged illegal and abusive conduct as well as abuse of authority allegedly committed by members of the Executive Committee (Execom) of the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC).
The complainants are employees of VSMMC but would not disclose their identities for fear of reprisal.
In the letter dated last June 27 and addressed to Deputy Ombudsman for the Visayas Paul Elmer Clemente, it was narrated how the Department of
Health (DOH) had issued an administrative order, AO 42 S 2001, providing guidelines for sourcing, pooling, and distribution of medicare funds.
According to the letter complaint, the administrative order provides that the income generated from PhilHealth payments will be pooled as common funds, with 70 percent going to the healthcare institution for its improvement and the remaining 30 percent for incentives of all health personnel, whether full-time, part-time, contractual, permanent, or temporary.
Out of the 30 percent, 50 percent will be divided equally among the nonmedical employees, while the other half will go to the medical employees, which will also be divided equally.
However, the anonymous complainants alleged that the Execom had allegedly revised the sharing scheme, which resulted to the Execom getting a bigger share.
Although the complaint did not provide the percentage of the alleged amended sharing scheme, it was stated that the sharing for the third quarter (June 2016), the non-medical group allegedly received P22,000 each and the medical group received P66,000 each.
Meanwhile, members of the Execom allegedly received P220,000 each while the medical center chief allegedly received P250,000 during the said quarter.
The complainants pointed out issues and concerns that they would like the Office of the Ombudsman to look into, which include whether or not it was lawful for the VSMMC Execom to issue a resolution to amend an administrative order issued by the DOH and to implement the same without consulting the hospital employees and whether or not it was rightful for the Execom to receive amounts way bigger than the doctors who are directly handling the patients, among others.
Claims of alleged overpricing in the purchase of hospital equipment and contractor monopoly were also included in the letter complaint, pointing out that such practices are a common knowledge in VSMMC but that most employees are afraid to complain because of the alleged vindictive attitude of the medical center chief and the Execom members.
When reached for comment, VSMMC information officer Eleodoro Mongaya Jr. said that they have not yet received any information regarding the matter.
“As of this time, the VSMMC has yet to receive the official complaint from the Ombudsman, but the VSMMC has previously received similar complaint filed at the Ombudsman and has been resolved,” he said in an e-mail.
“VSMMC management will issue an official statement by the time the official communication from the Office of the Ombudsman is received.”
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