Cebu to Pilot Health Program

The Province of Cebu was one of the pilot provinces chosen for the initial implementation of the Universal Health Care.

By the time that the Universal Health Care will be fully implemented, it will rebuild the country’s healthcare system.

Dr. Rene Catan, chief of the Cebu Provincial Health Office (PHO) pointed out that good performance and developments in terms of medical services and facilities made this possible.

He said that the whole province of Cebu has 1,800 healthcare workforce and its district and provincial hospitals have been consistently upgrading with state-of-the-art facilities.

Catan added that Cebu Province also offers a wide variety of services including free hospitalization.

“These are indications that Cebu is on the right track and it has capabilities in implementing the Universal Health Care Act,” Catan added.

Catan said that hospital expenses are free for both indigent and regular patients as long as they are admitted to the charity ward.

He added that this was through an amended ordinance enacted last year.

He explained that this policy began even before the Universal Health Care Act passed in February 2019.

The national law gives every Filipino free access and quality healthcare services.

Catan said that due to the country’s lapses in healthcare system, the Universal Health Care will develop the healthcare services to its maximum capacity.

Catan explained that one of the primary solutions is that the government will shoulder all hospital and healthcare expenses through PhilHealth.

Currently, the PHO is working on setting up an integrated registry for the entire province since it is one of the important requirements for the pilot implementation.

The registry system will obtain and record the population and the health status of every individual and it will also produce health cards for every citizen in the province. (MLC)