MANILA, Philippines – In 2014, two government hospitals in Camarines Norte could have settled with providing 57,602 indigent patients with meals worth P10 to P11.67.
But instead, they found a creative solution so that every patient – indigent or not – could stay in the hospital without going hungry.
A Commission on Audit (COA) report released on October 15 revealed that, in 2014, Camarines Norte Provincial Hospital (CNPH) and Labo District Hospital (LDH) had to disregard classifying patients as indigents and those who have health insurance (Medicare, PhilHealth, etc) to make ends meet.
They combined the food allocations and fed 85,070 patients with meals worth P23.10 each. This means 27,468 patients not classified as indigents had to make do with less than what they were supposed to eat.
On days when both hospitals had to serve beyond their bed capacities, the budget for every meal went down to a minimum of P17.59 per patient – still much bigger than the initial P10 allocation. On days when there were less patients, the budget went up to P29.15.
While this solution is commendable, the COA report urged the two hospitals to stop merging meal budgets and required the provincial government to increase its budget allocation for meals.
"The significant underspending of food expenses for Medicare patients affects the quality of service that should be provided to the Medicare patients. We recommended that the Sagguniang Panlalawigan pass a resolution to increase the budget at CNPH and PDH for food expenses of charity patients to improve the hospital meals,” COA said. – Jee Y. Geronimo/Rappler.com