TABUK CITY, Kalinga – Three-term Rep. Allen Jesse C. Mangaoang underscored the importance of the proposed re-nationalization of the Kalinga Provincial Hospital (KPH) which shall be known as the Northern Cordillera Regional Hospital (NCRH) to help enhance the delivery of quality health care services to the grassroots level, especially in the province and neighboring provinces in the Cordillera and Region 2 or the Cagayan Valley.
Mangaoang, who will serve his third term as the Kalinga lawmaker, claimed that the Senate failed to act on the counterpart bill in the 18th Congress that could have led to the establishment of the second regional hospital in the region that would have contributed in further improving the delivery of health care services to the people on the ground, especially the province’s remote communities that have difficulty in accessing medical care from existing government hospitals due to inadequate equipment and personnel.
Earlier, Mangaoang filed a house bill for the creation of the NCRH which was approved on third and final reading in the House of Representatives but was not acted upon by the Senate for the passage of the required counterpart bill to re-nationalize the said hospital similar to what happened to other health facilities managed and operated by the various provincial governments.
The lawmaker pointed out that it is important for the health department to oversee the operation of hospitals that are being managed and operated by provincial governments to further equip them and be provided with sufficient medical supplies and equipment as well as sufficient personnel to ensure the delivery of quality health care services beneficial in addressing the medical needs of the vulnerable and marginalized sectors.
According to him, the Kalinga provincial government will be spared from its annual appropriations for the sustained maintenance, operation and administration of the health facility, which could be otherwise used for other similarly important development projects for the different municipalities.
Rep. Mangaoang disclosed he will refine the same bill for the creation of the NCRH right at the start of the next term so that it could be immediately acted upon by the House of Representatives to allow the Senate to have ample time to pass the required counterpart bill for the realization of the re-nationalization of the said health facility.
He pointed out that the existence of health facilities managed and operated by the national government in strategic areas in the country will help in further enhancing the effective and efficient delivery of health care services because local governments cannot afford to shoulder the enormous expenses incurred in the management and operation of these health facilities.
