Cebu picks up lessons from Pangasinan
LINGAYEN—The word about the province’s efficient healthcare services has gotten around. The provincial government of Cebu also wants to replicate the best practices of Pangasinan particularly on healthcare services.
“We want to learn from Pangasinan, the provincial government of Pangasinan, how it has efficiently managed to run its hospitals,” said Governor Hilario Davide III who led an 11-man delegation that visited Pangasinan on February 4 and 5.
The delegation from Cebu, considered the premier province in the country, included 2nd District Rep. Wilfredo Caminero, Board Member Peter Calderon and eight health officers.
Davide said his administration’s priority is health but admitted that they have been receiving complaints regarding the poor and slow delivery of healthcare services by their public hospitals.
“Most patients especially those having serious cases have to be brought to Cebu City,” he said.
Gov. Amado T. Espino, Jr. who welcomed the delegation said “We are very happy to receive their delegation… it’s heart-warming to know that people are appreciating the things we do in the province.”
Pangasinan has one provincial hospital, six district hospitals, and seven community hospitals. For 2014, these 14 hospitals have a P544-million allocation in the provincial budget while the Provincial Health Office (PHO) has P23 million.
In comparison, Davide said his province’s budget for its four provincial hospitals and 12 district hospitals is more than P300 million plus other funds have been budgeted specifically for facility-improvements year.
“All of them need improvement,” Davide said.
Dr. Anna Ma. Theresa de Guzman, Pangasinan PHO chief, said the Cebu visitors wanted to observe the province’s healthcare system’s efficiency including the hospitals’ compliment and personnel, budget, recovery system, procurement of diagnostic facilities, and sustainability plans.
She said she shared the expereiences from the transformatioon of various provincial government hospitals, the grants secured from the European Commission, and the Department of Health facility enhancement program.
Pangasinan has a strong public-private partnership that helped in the acquisition of various modern health and laboratory equipment.
Cebu is the seventh province since 2011 to look into the best practices of Pangasinan on health, next to Capiz, Cagayan, Ilocos Sur, and Bukidnon among others.—with reports from Johanne R. Macob and Tita Roces
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