DOH probes 77 illegal detention complaints vs hospitals

DAGUPAN CITY, Philippines — The Department of Health (DOH) is looking into 77 complaints against hospitals that have detained patients over unpaid hospital bills, an official said yesterday.                             

According to DOH Assistant Secretary for health regulations Charade Mercado-Grande, there are 77 pending complaints against mostly private hospitals that are currently being reviewed by the DOH’s Health Facilities Oversight Board (HFOB).  

“We know that it is a business but we should remember that the right to liberty is paramount over the right to property,” she noted during the Fourth Quarter DOH Media Forum here.

Grande, who assumed chairmanship of HFOB last September, maintained that detaining patients is violative of Republic Act 9439 or the Anti-Hospital Detention law.

The measure provides that it is “unlawful for any hospital or medical clinic in the country to detain or to otherwise cause, directly or indirectly, the detention of patients who have fully or partially recovered or have adequately attended to or who may have died, for reasons of non-payment in part or in full of hospital bills or medical expenses.”

It also prohibits hospitals from withholding the release of death certificates and other documents required for interment and other purposes to deceased patients’ relatives.

She said the measure “expressly provides that patients who stayed in private rooms shall not be covered by this Act.”  

But despite this, she cautioned that hospitals still cannot detain patients as they have to accept promissory notes or a payment agreement scheme with a “co-maker.”

Grande, however, admitted that one of the stumbling blocks in their investigation is that many complainants do not pursue their complaints for various reasons.

“But in cases like this, we still continue with the investigation,” she added.

The 77 complaints include those filed since 2018. She gave assurance that the HFOB intends to resolve the cases within six months or until March next year.