BACOLOD City – The House of Representatives’ health committee approved the proposed law increasing the bed capacity of the Teresita L. Jalandoni Provincial Hospital (TLJPH) in Silay City, Negros Occidental.
House Bill 4763 authored by 3rd District’s Rep. Jose Francisco Benitez seeks to increase the number of the hospital’s beds from 100 to 300, as well as upgrade its facilities and increase its medical personnel.
“The coronavirus pandemic highlights the need for greater investments in our health care system. We thank the Committee on Health for approving this urgent measure,” Benitez said.
He added that once passed into law, the legislation would increase the hospital’s capacity to provide adequate health care to Negrenses, especially indigent patients.
Although the hospital’s authorized capacity is only 100 beds, its bed occupancy in 2018 was 300 percent higher than its capacity.
In that year, the number of inpatients reached 22,014 or 60 patients admitted every day, staying for an average of five days.
“Clearly, the TLJPH urgently needs augmentation in its facilities and personnel to meet the high demand for healthcare in Negros Occidental and prevent the unnecessary loss of life,” Benitez said in the explanatory note of the bill he filed on Sept. 23, 2019.
In June last year, the Senate also approved House Bill 8835 to expand the bed capacity of the Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital (CLMMRH) here from the present 400 beds to 1,000 beds.
The management of CLMMRH, the only Department of Health hospital on Negros Island, reported that the constant acceptance of patients from various districts in Negros Occidental, including Bacolod City, yielded an estimated bed occupancy rate of 207 percent to 213 percent. (With PNA/PN)
