TABUK CITY, Kalinga – Rep. Allen Jesse C. Mangaoang is pushing for the conversion of the Kalinga Provincial Hospital into a Level 3 regional hospital to be known as the Northern Cordillera Regional Medical Center.
House Bill (HB) 2740 authored by Congress representative Mangaoang stated that the proposed Northern Cordillera Medical Center shall be under the direct supervision and control of the health department.
Further, any future increase in bed capacity shall be consistent with the hospital development plan which shall be prepared by the health department.
The lawmaker also wants that the existing professional health care services and facilities should also be upgraded to conform with and be commensurate to the bed capacity increase of the hospital as prepared by the health department.
Moreover, the existing work force of the NCRMC, including doctors, nurses and support personnel, shall be correspondingly increased to conform with the provisions of the law.
The proposed law mandates the health Secretary to include in the department’s programs the implementation of the pertinent provisions of the law, the funding of which shall be included in the annual budget of the national government.
Mangaoang pointed out that it is the declared policy of the State enshrined in the 1987 Constitution that the State shall protect and promote the right to health of the people and instill health consciousness among them. Towards the said end, the State shall provide primary, secondary and tertiary health services adequate, accessible and affordable to all the citizens.
According to him, the Kalinga Provincial Hospital, through the years, has provided affordable services to the people of the province and its neighboring provinces in the Cordillera and the Cagayan Valley aside from being the only hospital of its kind in the province that caters to the health and medical needs of the citizens.
For several years now, Mangaoang admitted that the hospital had more than 100 percent bed occupancy rate that is why the inadequate equipment and hospital resources as well as its already undermanned work force are further thinly spread among its numerous patients and cannot address the more specialized health services for complexed diseases, illnesses and injuries of people referred to the hospital consisting mostly of indigents and under privileged members of the community.
Mangaoang stipulated that most of the patients cannot afford to go to regional and specialized hospitals in the neighboring provinces and in Metro Manila and this confine themselves to the meager resources of the hospital.
He argued that the conversion of the hospital to a regional hospital under the supervision of the health department and upgrading its capability, facilities and personnel, as well as increasing its bed capacity, will firmly address the pressing medical needs of the people of Kalinga. With the passage of the bill, the NCRMC will be able to provide a more integrated, comprehensive, accessible and effective quality health care and services not only to Kalinga but also to is neighboring provinces if Isabela, Apayao, Ifugao, Mountain Province and Abra.
