Eastern Samar solon pushes for tertiary hospital in every province

TACLOBAN CITY – Eastern Samar Rep. Christopher Sheen Gonzales is pushing for at least one Department of Health (DOH) tertiary hospital in every province to bring specialized medical services closer to communities outside major urban centers.

Gonzales is among the five authors of House Bill 11349, or the proposed “Tertiary Hospital in Every Province Act,” which seeks to address gaps in access to specialized and critical healthcare by requiring the national government to establish or upgrade a DOH hospital in provinces without an existing facility.

House Minority Leader Marcelino Libanan of the 4Ps Party-list, along with Reps. Albert Garcia and Maria Angela Garcia of Bataan and Jernie Jett Nisay of Pusong Pinoy, are the other authors of the measure. The bill is currently pending before the House Committee on Health.

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In a statement issued on Monday, Gonzales said the bill’s primary objective is to bring more comprehensive medical services closer to Filipinos, particularly those living in provinces, so patients would not have to travel long distances to obtain tertiary-level healthcare.

The measure seeks to improve access to more complete, higher-level medical services, particularly for communities that face geographic and financial barriers in reaching referral hospitals.

Under the bill, every province would have at least one DOH hospital licensed at no lower than Level 2, which would serve as the main end referral hospital within its healthcare system.

Each hospital would initially have a minimum capacity of 100 authorized beds. The requirement may be reduced to 50 beds for provinces with populations below 200,000 and certain geographically dispersed or island provinces.

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The bill allows the government to meet the requirement by constructing a new hospital, upgrading an existing DOH facility, or converting and upgrading a provincial, district, city, or municipal hospital, subject to the consent of the concerned local government unit.

For geographically isolated areas and island provinces, the proposal also allows the establishment of satellite or annex facilities to complement the main provincial hospital.

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The measure proposes that provinces without a DOH hospital have a fully operational Level 2 facility within three years. Within five years, every province and qualified legislative district would be served by a tertiary hospital, subject to the bill’s conditions.

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Gonzales said the proposal is intended to reduce the need for patients, particularly those requiring specialized or critical care, to leave their home provinces for treatment.

The proposal comes amid continued concerns about unequal access to higher-level government hospitals, with patients from provinces sometimes having to travel to other areas for specialized treatment, adding transportation and other costs to families.

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If enacted, HB 11349 would provide a framework for expanding the national government’s tertiary hospital network while allowing existing local government hospitals to be upgraded rather than requiring all facilities to be built from the ground up./coa