THE lack of hospitals, state-of-the-art equipment, and insufficient barangay health centers and workers are among the issues that have been brought up during the first Cagayan de Oro Health Summit 2017 Thursday, March 2 at Xavier Estate’s Country Club, Cagayan de Oro City.
Dr. Ramon Nery, hospital executive officer, said the situation of JR Borja General Hospital, the city hospital, remains a Level I hospital until now.
Nery said the city hospital cannot avail of other PhilHealth free programs because it is still not upgraded.
“JR Borja needs to be upgraded to Level II hospital, because 50 percent admitted to Northern Mindanao Medical Center are residents of Cagayan de Oro, so I think it’s about time that there should be a tertiary hospital that will serve the people of the city. And we are also happy of City Mayor Moreno’s plan to build two hospitals in the city so medical services will be readily for the people,” he said.
City Mayor Oscar Moreno, during his speech Thursday, March 2, said the two hospitals he plans to build in the city this year will serve the first and second districts of the city.
Nery said in the past years, the situation of the city hospital has improved, noting that the bed occupancy rate in 2016 has reached 285 percent from only 160 percent in 2014, and 221 percent in 2015.
He said the city hospital and its patients have been enjoying free services from PhilHealth, but for services to be upgraded, the hospital must be upgraded too.
“To make that leap, we need to establish our special areas like our Intensive Care Unit, dialysis center, and CT scan, and we are going to make this leap very soon,” Nery said.
Senator Risa Hontiveros, who was guest speaker during the Health Summit, vowed to continue her programs despite her, being removed from the committee on health and demography on Monday, February 28.
Hontiveros, in Her Bibong Barangay Health Worker Act, wants a P6, 000 basic wage for every barangay health workers (BHW) with PhilHealth, Government Insurance System, and Pag-Ibig benefits.
Hontiveros also wants counterpart funding from the national government to augment the support for BHWs given by local government units.
To date, there are about 500 BHWs in the city, and these workers are only receiving honorarium worth P1,000.
“We will continue our practices on public health, we must continue to improve our hospitals, improve their bed capacity and bring better health practices to the community, re-emphasize sanitation and solid waste management, and develop our recycling practices,” Hontiveros said.
Hontiveros added that despite losing the chairmanship, she will continue to work with the people in legislation for a better health care.
City Councilor Ma. Lourdes Gaane, chair of the committee on health and sanitation, lauded this proposal, saying this would help and encourage people to volunteer and bring about better services to the constituents.
The one-day health summit was attended by about 350 BHWs, and health executives of the region.
