Castelo seeks P750-million QC subsidy for government hospitals
DISTRICT 2 Councilor Winnie Castelo has proposed giving Department of Health-run hospitals in Quezon City a P750-million subsidy from the city government.
In Proposed Ordinance No. 514, S-2021 Castelo, who is running mate of mayoral candidate Mike Defensor, said the money would be allocated for poor city residents seeking the services of these hospitals.
Among the DOH hospitals in Quezon City are National Kidney and Transplant Institute, East Avenue Medical Center, Philippine Heart Center, Lung Center of the Philippines, Philippine Children’s Medical Center, Philippine Orthopedic Hospital, and Quirino Memorial Medical Center.
“These hospitals receive subsidies from the national government, a portion of which is allocated as financial assistance to indigent patients,” Castelo said.
He said given the large number of Quezon City residents who avail themselves of the services of these hospitals, the facilities cannot accommodate all the patients because of their limited resources.
“Thus, the city has to give them a counterpart subsidy, in addition to what they get from the national government. The city counterpart would be reserved for city residents,” he said.
He added that the four DOH hospitals in Quezon City that are doubling as Covid-19 treatment facilities would suffer budget cuts amounting to P961 million next year.
Based on budget documents submitted to Congress, Castelo pointed out that the Lung Center of the Philippines, a Covid-19 referral hospital, would have P405 million in 2022, P100 million lower than its P505-million budget this year.
The National Kidney and Transplant Institute (NKTI) will have P9 million less than its present funding of P1,271,442,000, while national government subsidy for the Philippine Heart Center would go down by P29 million to P1,766,827,000.
Castelo said the Philippine Children’s Medical Center (PCMC), which cares for new coronavirus-infected children, would suffer the biggest budget cut of P823 million, which would reduce its 2022 budget to P1,110,891,000.
“We should be increasing funds for these hospitals at this time of pandemic, instead of reducing them. The proposed city subsidy would be a timely augmentation of the resources of DOH health facilities,” he said.
The proposed resolution on the grant of city subsidy is co-authored by Councilor Karl Edgar Castelo of District 5 and Councilor Melencio Castelo Jr. of District 6.
