BGHMC bed capacity increase ok’d in House Committee

THE INCREASE in bed capacity of the 115 – year – old Baguio General Hospital Medical Center (BGHMC) from 500 beds to 800 was already approved in the committee level.

The House Committee on Health, chaired by Rep. Angelina Tan, swiftly passed House Bill 5442 after unanimous approval from its members.

“The hospital’s annual statistics report reveals that every year, the hospital exceeds its bed occupancy due to its volume of admission. In 2015, its bed occupancy rate has reached 133.92 percent with a total admission of 37,022. In the following year, it exceeded 144.17 percent of its normal occupancy rate admitting a total of 37,577 patients,” proponent Baguio representative Marquez Go said.

Madeline Doromal of DOH Health Facility Development Bureau said the current ratio of bed capacity to population in Cordillera Administrative Region is 1:918 compared to the 1:800 standard ratio in the Philippines.

Doromal added BGHMC is complying with the mandate of a tertiary hospital and the proposed upgrading is justified because of the increasing trend of patients going in the BGH.

A provision of the said proposed measure states the existing service facilities and professional health care services of the BGHMC shall be upgraded to conform with and commensurate to the proposed increase of bed capacity.

“Presently, BGHMC caters 80 percent indigent patients including PhilHealth funded patients. As of February 2017, its bed capacity rate has reached to 114.32% with total inpatients of 16,005,” Go explained. “It is really urgent and imperative to increase BGHMC’s bed capacity to further enhance its capability of delivering public health services.”