A legislator wants the Department of Health, instead of Congress, to have the authority to set and approve the bed capacity increases of all DOH-supervised hospitals to better deliver quality healthcare to the people.
Rep. Brian Raymund Yamsuan said the current practice of increasing the service capability of DOH-supervised hospitals through legislation is a tedious, drawn-out process that could take years which further contributes to the delay in addressing the problem of the worsening hospital bed shortage in public health facilities.
“Allowing the DOH to adjust and approve the bed capacities and service capabilities of its retained hospitals is more efficient, as it already has the Philippine Health Facility Development Plan (PHFDP) for 2020 to 2040 in place. This 20-year blueprint aims to guide the government in effectively investing in health infrastructure, which includes filling the shortage of hospital beds in public hospitals,” said Yamsuan of the Bicol Saro party-list group.
“While Congress tries to move as quickly as it can to pass laws that would improve the delivery of affordable and quality healthcare, we cannot discount the fact that the legislative process takes a lot of time,” he added.
Instead of going through the process of passing a law to approve the bed capacity and service capability of every DOH-retained hospital, the Health department should be given this authority and include this in its funding requirements under the annual General Appropriations Act, Yamsuan said.
