City government partners with Villaflor Hospital for indigents program
BALON DAGUPAN NEWS
DAGUPAN City’s less privileged can now avail of the services of a private hospital here when they get sick without losing their dignity and honor because of lack of finances.
This has been made possible by a memorandum of agreement (MOA) between the Dagupan Doctors Villaflor Memorial Hospital (DDVMH) and the city government when for the implementation of the ‘no balance billing policy’ and ‘point of care’ enrollment for indigents and underprivileged on March 9 during the executive session at the CSI Stadia.
Dr. Vivencio Villaflor Jr., director of DDVMH, signed the MOA with Mayor Belen T. Fernandez. Other signatories were City Administrator Farah Marie G. Decano, Dr. Leonard L. Carbonell and City Social Welfare and Development Officer Leah L. Aquino for the city while Dr. Jovie Villaflor III and Dr. Gregoria Villaflor, represented by Pie Villaflor Abraham signed for the hospital.
Mayor Fernandez (center, left) leads the signing of the Memorandum of Agreement with the Dagupan Doctors Villaflor Memorial Hospital (DDVMH) headed by Dr. Vivencio V. Villaflor (center, right) (CIO photo by Mitz Cresencio)
The program is being supported also by the DOH and PhilHealth.
Dr. Lilian Olivar of PhilHealth commended Fernandez for her relentless pursuit to give the poor in the city the best possible health care.
“This is the first not only in the region but also in the entire country where a local government and a private hospital forged a partnership of this kind,” Olivar said.
Villaflor Jr. also thanked the mayor for what he considers as a rare opportunity and privilege to serve fellow Dagupeños.
“This is a worthy project to be emulated by other private hospitals. This will surely help the underprivileged people of our city,” Villaflor said. “In our case, it is our corporate social and civic responsibility to share our God-given blessings by taking care of our less fortunate brothers,” he added.
Carbonell said that under normal condition, the no balance billing policy is only applicable to Department of Health government hospitals and not to private hospitals.
The program will benefit members of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), those identified as indigents under the National Housing Targeting System (NHTS) and pregnant mothers and their dependents.
“That is why, this is another historic day for the City of Dagupan because we will be the first to have such kind of program in the entire country and this benefit extends to their dependents,” Carbonell said.
Fernandez, on the other hand, is thankful to DDVMH for joining the city government in providing the best possible medical care to the less fortunate.
Fernandez bared that the city has already allocated P8M to enroll the city’s volunteers and all pregnant mothers to PhilHealth, “and very soon they will receive their PhilHealth cards.” (CIO/Joseph C. Bacani)
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