Is DOH shutting PCMC director out?

Part 2: DAP funds used to buy PCMC land

(First of two parts)

MANILA, Philippines - Is the director of the Philippine Children’s Medical Center (PCMC) being left out of the discussions regarding the modernization of the specialty hospital in Quezon City?

A notice of meeting, a copy of which was obtained by The STAR, showed that PCMC director Julius Lecciones was not invited to the first meeting of the PCMC Task Force for Modernization on June 19.

The notice, while coursed through the office of the director, was addressed to Dr. Vicente Gomez, head of the PCMC department of surgery. It was signed by Department of Health (DOH) Undersecretary Teodoro Herbosa.

“If you think about protocol, I should be the one addressed (in the notice of meeting),” Lecciones said in Filipino in an interview with The STAR.

Other people identified in the notice of meeting were DOH Assistant Secretary Roland Cortez and consultant Ma. Gilda Resurrection.

It noted that the secretariat of the task force will be composed of Celso Manangan of the Center of Excellence on Public-Private Partnerships in Health, Dennis Rosete of the DOH, and representatives from the PCMC and the Health Facilities Development Bureau.

Lecciones admitted that he could be a PCMC representative, but said it would seem improper that the head of the hospital will just be a member of the secretariat. He said he sent a deputy director as PCMC representative in the meeting.

In a press release on July 15, DOH Secretary Enrique Ona announced the creation of the task force that will look into the PCMC modernization proposal. It is headed by Herbosa, with Cortez and Gomez – mistakenly identified as assistant director – selected as members.

It said the task force will look into the proposal presented to the DOH by Gomez.

“It is surprising that the plan for PCMC only came about one month ago and was not received by the director who missed the last meeting of the specialty hospitals board of trustees,” Ona was quoted as saying in the release.

Sought for comment on Ona’s statement, Lecciones disputed the claim that the modernization plan “only came about one month ago.”

He showed The STAR copies of the modernization plan, which he said they submitted to the DOH and the Department of Budget and Management in 2012.

He said the plan – the same one presented by Gomez to DOH – was the product of the entire PCMC community.

A petition signed by more than a thousand employees and submitted to the DOH in April also noted that the PCMC community has communicated to Ona their “position that facility improvements can be done at the present lot which (they) have been occupying since 1980.”

The petition is asking Ona to drop his plans to relocate the PCMC to a portion of the property owned by the Lung Center of the Philippines.

Lecciones also clarified his supposed non-attendance in the “last meeting,” which he said was cancelled anyway due to lack of quorum. He said he sent two deputy directors to attend in the meeting in lieu of his absence, due to illness.

He said the last meeting of the board of trustees where a quorum was obtained was way back in December, and that he was present in the meeting.

United PCMC

Lecciones said some sectors of the PCMC community have asked him why Gomez, and not him, is the one representing the hospital in the task force.

He said, however, that the representation of the hospital does not matter as long as the united stand of the PCMC is being heard by the DOH.

The PCMC is asking the government to settle the issue of land ownership of the hospital, which stands on a 3.7-hectare property owned by the National Housing Authority (NHA).

The NHA is asking the PCMC to pay more than P1 billion for the property.

Relocation?

And while Ona said that the purchase of the lot from NHA is being considered, a later statement still hinted a possibility of relocation.

“The truth is the DOH wants to modernize PCMC, either at another location or on its current one, if the latter is found to be the best option,” said the health chief.

Lecciones said such conflicting statements “traumatize” employees of the PCMC, who are now wondering what will be the future of the hospital.

The PCMC director said relocation proposals involved the possibility of a high-rise building, which he said will pose problems when it comes to evacuation of patients in case of an emergency.

He also insisted that the DOH should first resolve the land ownership issue, saying this is an indispensable asset of the hospital.

Moving forward

With the official announcement of the task force, Lecciones said his next move is to request for official information regarding the modernization plans.

Lecciones cited, for instance, the statement of Ona that “scoping and assessment activities have been completed” and that “talks with PCMC management and staff are being undertaken.”

He said he was not aware of any scoping and assessment activities, and that talks with PCMC management are only limited to discussions with Gomez. He said he would request copies of the results of the scoping and assessment.

The PCMC director said he does not want DOH officials to see him as being obstructive, stressing that what he only wants are direct answers to address the questions of the members of the PCMC community.

“If our direction is to help our patients, then we do not need to argue,” he said. (To be continued)