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Senate OKs regional specialty centers bill

May 29, 2023 PS Jun M. Sarmiento 1986 views

ON Monday, May 29, 2023, the Senate gave its third reading approval on Senate Bill (SB) No. 2212, or the Regional Specialty Centers Act – one of the priority measures in the Common Legislative Agenda of the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC).

“This was my promise to the people during last year’s campaign, and it is now only one short step away from becoming law,” said Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri, principal author and co-sponsor of the measure.

“This bill is a shot in the arm of our public health system. To borrow a medical term, it is a major transfusion of resources to government hospitals in the regions, nearer to the sick who need affordable care.”

Under the bill, specialty centers will be established under government hospitals across the country, in an effort to decentralize the services of specialty centers such as the Philippine Children’s Medical Center (PCMC), the Philippine Heart Center (PHC), the Lung Center of the Philippines (LCP), and the National Kidney and Transplant Institute (NKTI), which are all located in Metro Manila.

“For the sick, the journey to big cities for treatment is the road to bankruptcy. Not only is the hospital bill enormous, but the transient stay is also expensive. What little money has been begged or borrowed ends up being spent on lodging of carers instead of cure. The individual patient may survive, but family finances will not,” the Senate President said.

“If the people cannot go to where excellent care are, then government must bring excellent medical care to them.”

In his first State of the Nation Address (SONA), President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. highlighted the need to make medical services more accessible outside Metro Manila.