Lingayen – The provision of quality and affordable health care services to sick Pangasinenses admitted in 14 hospitals owned and managed by the provincial government has been the top advocacy of the incumbent provincial administration.

This was reiterated by Governor Espino during a media conference held at the Doctors’ Lounge of the Pangasinan Provincial Hospital (PPH) in San Carlos City last June 20 shortly after he visited various wards in the hospital to personally check on the patients during his natal day.

Saying that hospitals of the provincial government have undergone dramatic transformation under his watch, making these as “hospitals of choice” for Pangasinenses, the governor stressed that poorest Pangasinenses who are sick and jobless deserve priority attention on health care services.

The provincial government implemented PhilHealth’s Point-of-Care (POC) system in 14 hospitals of the province since February 2014 where 12,630 indigent families are insured with a total premium paid amounting to Php30.31 million for curricular year 2014. An insurance premium of Php2,400 has been allocated for each indigent family.

The Point-of-Care (POC), Governor Espino said, entitles indigent patients who cannot afford to pay hospitalization expenses to a “no balance billing policy.”

The influx of patients at PPH from the average of 47 in-patients in 2007 to 427 in-patients at present is attributed to the effective and efficient delivery of health care services in the hospital.

Conversion of the provincial hospital into a medical center is being worked out to further upgrade its facilities, the governor said.

Dr. Policarpio Manuel, PPH chief, reported that the completion of the Emergency Room, Operating Room and Intensive Care Unit (ER-OR-ICU) building will further boost the capability of the facility to accommodate more surgical cases.

State-of-the-art hospital equipment including the CT Scan and filmless X-ray machine have also been doing well, Manuel added.       /Mark Gerry Naval Oblanca