Senate OKS on 2nd reading bill setting up specialty centers

THE Senate on Wednesday approved on second reading a bill setting up specialty centers in Department of Health (DOH) regional hospitals, in a bid to decongest long queues of patients from all over the country seeking advanced treament in the Philippine Heart Center and similar specialty institutions in Metro Manila.

Last week, principal author Senator Christopher Lawrence Go sponsored the Committee Report on Senate Bill (SB) 2212 or the proposed “Regional Specialty Centers Act,” stressing the need to provide access to specialized health care services for Filipinos.

On Wednesday, as the chamber voted on second reading on the measure, Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri expressed relief and the hope that Filipinos “from faraway places” like Mindanao would not have to spend so much time and resources to line up for precious slots in the PHC, or the National Kidney Center or the Lung Center, all of which are in Metro Manila.

Zubiri said he recently issued several endorsement letters for constituents from Mindanao in urgent need of treatment at the PHC.

The substitute bill—a result of key amendments introduced by Sen. Pia Cayetano—merges different proposals relating to specialty hospitals and centers, including the bill introduced by himself.

Zubiri is also a principal author, with other senators—juan Edgardo Angara, JV Ejercito, Francis Escudero, Pia Cayetano, Jinggoy Estrada, Imee Marcos, Robinhood Padilla, Ramon Revilla Jr., Sherwin Gatchalian and Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa—standing as coauthors.

Go explained in his sponsorship speech that the bill aims to establish specialty centers in select DOH hospitals throughout the country, with mental health services among the specialties included.

“Our countrymen need not be burdened to access the service of the government, especially when it comes to health,” Go said, adding: “We should bring government service to the people.”

Go earlier pushed for the Malasakit Centers—the one-top shop for assistance from relevant government agencies—housed in state hospitals—to make medical service “accessible to the people, especially the poor.”

The envisioned specialty centers will be more cost-efficient and practical, compared to building entirely new facilities, Go said, adding that time needed to build such is also a luxury the poor cannot afford.

The bill, seen to be approved on third reading before the Senate adjourns on June 3, mandates the DOH to establish specialty centers in identified Doh-hospitals in each region within five years. The initial focus would be on heart, lung, and kidney centers, replicating the capabilities of the National Specialty Centers in the National Capital Region.