FINALLY, we have a full-fledged Secretary in the Department of Health (DOH) after a year of waiting. So let us not waste time, let’s jump right in. We have a wish list that Secretary Ted Herbosa may consider.
First, that the government hospitals allow walk-in seniors and immunocompromised, who already had their first and second booster shots, to avail themselves of the bivalent boosters upon presentation of their COVID vaccination cards. Knowing the daily clientele quota and supply of available booster shots at a government hospital should be enough notice and information to walk-ins. If they come in late one day, then they sign-up onsite in advance for the next day.
Second, that the bulk of the remaining inventories of primary doses and old boosters should be deployed to the provincial hospitals, district hospitals, and barangay health centers where vaccination rates are low or are still under Alert Level II status. The sooner vax rates in those areas improve and more bivalent boosters become available, the sooner the entire country can upgrade to Alert Level 0.
Third, PhilHealth registration rates among seniors must be improved. Seniors, especially the indigents, should be registered while they are not yet sick or needing hospital care. There should be more offsite PhilHealth registration kiosks at the barangay health centers, especially at super health centers and district offices, and OSCA offices of LGUs.
Fourth, that the delays in PhilHealth remittances and refunds to private hospitals be swiftly addressed with the next six months to ease these medical facilities’ financial distress and prevent some from collapsing altogether.
Fifth, that DOH and PhilHealth design a medical or health service contracting system—improving upon the core concepts of the service contracting system being implemented by the Department of Education and Department of Transportation. Through health service contracting, possibly for specific types of serious illnesses, congestion in government hospitals can be eased because some patients with financial capacity can be cared for in accredited private hospitals, so the government hospitals can focus on taking care of the poor and low-income patients.
Sixth, that the DOH and LGU hospitals link up with colleges with health professions programs on teaching households first aid—basic and advanced life support—to lessen the numbers of dead on arrival at hospitals. With first aid at the home and at the workplace, patients can be saved and stabilized first before they are transported to hospitals, thereby increasing their chances of survival and recovery.
We hope Secretary Ted Herbosa would seriously consider these suggestions.
