The Department of Health (DoH) of the Philippines has kickstarted the implementation of the Philippine Health Facility Development Plan (PHFDP), which foresees the construction of more specialty hospitals and centers in the Southeast Asian country.
It is estimated that the creation and upgrade of hospitals and centers for specialty services will cost around PHP 15 billion (USD 210 million) from 2021 to 2025. The PHFDP will prioritize neonatal, heart, lung, kidney and cancer specialty medical centers, as highlighted by the DoH.
Some regions will be prioritized for the creation of specialty units, including Ilocos, Cagayan Valley, Cordillera Administrative Region, Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon), Mimaropa (Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan), Bicol, Visayas and Mindanao.
In addition, specialty services will be expanded in hospitals such as the Baguio General Hospital, Mariano Marcos Hospital and Medical Center in Batac City, Ilocos Norte, Batangas Medical Center, Bicol Regional Teaching and Training Hospital in Legazpi City, Vicente Sotto Medical Memorial Center in Cebu, Northern Mindanao Medical Center in Cagayan de Oro, and the Southern Philippines Medical Center in Davao City.
The DoH will try to replicate the model of the Cotabato Regional Hospital, which is now capable of heart bypass and other specialized operations.
The DoH has been urged by the President of the Philippines strengthen its partnership with the private sector. In particular, it is believed that there are opportunities for public-private collaborations for the improvement of service delivery networks to expand services in rural areas.
(Sources: The Manila Times; Manila Bulletin)
