Barangay Health Stations To Be Established In Public Elementary Schools

In a bid to make quality health care more accessible to the poor and vulnerable population, various government agencies teamed up to ensure a functional Barangay Health Station (BHS) in every barangay.

In a memorandum, the Department of Education (DepEd) and Department of Health (DOH), together with the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), forged a partnership to establish a PhilHealth TSeKAP (Tamang Serbisyo para sa Kalusugan ng Pamilya) accredited BHS within public elementary schools in barangays with a non-existent BHS.

Particularly, the DepEd will be providing a lot or portion of the property not being actively utilized in public elementary schools in barangays without an existing health station and other government health service units.

This is in support of the implementation of the Health Facility Enhancement Program (HFEP), a joint effort between DOH and DILG.

In view of the implementation of the program, the schools must be validated jointly by the DOH and DepEd. A preliminary list of public schools in the barangay has been prepared, which will be the basis of the joint validation.

The DOH representative should meet with the schools division superintendent (SDS) to conduct validation of the schools together with DepEd engineers.

According to DepEd, criteria for consideration include: buildable space in the school; the space identified is accessible by use of a separate gate other than the main gate of the school; and the space identified has not been previously identified for classroom construction from any source of funding.

DepEd said that if earlier sites identified are not feasible, the SDS may recommend other school sites in the same barangay needing a BHS. (PNA) SCS/FMC