Ilocos private hospitals urged to partner with DoH

DAGUPAN CITY, Pangasinan: The Department of Health (DoH) urged private hospitals in Ilocos Region to enter a memorandum of agreement with them to ensure a service delivery network and to address health inequities through accessible health care without disparity.

DoH Ilocos Assistant Regional Director Rodolfo Alberto Albornoz said: “A public-private partnership will contribute greatly to a more improved service delivery network and help address health inequities by providing more access to health care and reducing the financial burden or out-of-pocket expenses by patients.”

This he said during the launch of the Healthy Pangasinan Campaign at the Northern Luzon Adventist Hospital (NLAH) on February 13. NLAH is a Level 1 hospital in District 5 and the biggest private hospital in Sison town.

Albornoz added that partnerships with private hospitals will also ensure the effective and efficient implementation and strengthening of the service delivery network through strategies and activities that would address the prevailing burden of various diseases in Pangasinan.

“We have the Universal Health Care (UHC) law, which guarantees that all must have access to quality health care whether in private or public hospitals,” he added.

Meanwhile, NLAH has shown commitment to being more engaged and committed to the advocacies and programs of DoH.

NLAH is among the few private hospitals that attended and actively participated in the technical assistance and orientation in the creation of Public Health Units in all hospitals in the region conducted by the DoH Regional Office in November 2022.

“I am confident that NLAH will be part of the province of Pangasinan’s health care provider network after and will continue to cater to patients needing medical care and treatment to and from the community in the municipality of Sison and other nearby municipalities,” Albornoz said.