CEBU, Philippines — Acting Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama has appealed to the national government, specifically the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth), to pay their obligation to hospitals in the city, especially in the private ones.
Rama made the call after a visit to a private hospital yesterday to assess its situation.
Rama said that the unpaid PhilHealth dues are providing financial burden to some private hospitals.
“I am also appealing to the national government, because the problem also with the medical services, wa pa sila bayri sa PhilHealth. PhilHealth bayad mo,” said Rama.
Rama said he is talking about allegedly up to millions of dues.
“Wa pa man bayri. How can you have movement? Money is very important so that all these corporate requirements can also be addressed,” he said.
He said that once PhilHealth provides its pay, it will also give private hospitals the capacity to hire more medical staff and strengthen its services, especially in providing medical assistance to those infected with COVID-19.
The FREEMAN tried to reach a representative from Philhealth-7 for comment but did not receive a response as of this writing.
Considering the rise of COVID-19 cases in the city, Rama with other Cebu City Officials visited three private hospitals yesterday to check its situation and to determine what concerns may be addressed with the aid of the city government.
“I’m bringing City Hall right where medical services are located for us to know, to observe, to see is to believe, and to assure the Cebuanos that city government, all of us, we want to see what we can do furthermore,” said Rama.
Rama said while there are lots of available beds, the lack of medical staff is really the challenge now.
The city government resolved to provide an incentive amounting to P10,000 for three months to qualified nurses in the private hospitals.
“Naa man ni sila ilahang kaugalingon already within the hospital. Naa na silay plantilla, naa na silay salary management, naa na,” said Rama.
“Kita lang, aron manud na sila’g mangapply from the point of view sa city government, tagaan nato silag incentive… We will start with P10,000,” he added.
The city government also requested the Department of Health-7 for more nurses to augment personnel in public and private hospitals throughout the city.
Rama assured that Cebu City does not need yet national intervention as he stated that the city’s COVID-19 situation is still under control. — KQD (FREEMAN)