10 Mindanao hospitals get P7.2M grants

THE Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) awarded 10 government hospitals in Mindanao the first tranche of their subsidies under the PCSO endowment fund program, which provides financial assistance for the hospitalization needs of qualified patients.

A total of P7.2 million was given to the following hospitals:
* Cotabato Regional Medical Center, P2.5 million;
* Butuan Medical Center, P1M;
* Agusan del Norte Provincial Hospital, P1M;
* D.O. Plaza Memorial Hospital in Agusan del Sur, P1M;
* Cabadbaran District Hospital in Agusan del Norte gets P250 thousand;
* Siargao District Hospital in Surigao del Norte also gets P500 thousand;
* Bunawan District Hospital in Agusan del Sur gets P500 thousand;
* Hinatuan District Hospital in Surigao del Sur will also get P250 thousand;
* Lingig Community Hospital in Surigao del Sur gets P250 thousand and
* Madrid District Hospital in Surigao del Sur will get P200 thousand.

In the check turnover held at Marco Polo Hotel Davao on July 5, PCSO Chairperson Margarita Juico said, "PCSO aims to bring its services to the whole archipelago, particularly to remote and hard-to-reach areas where medical assistance is much needed."

The amount of the grant awarded to a beneficiary-hospital depends on how many needy patients it serves. The distribution of the grants is divided into two trances per year.

All institutional beneficiaries are required to submit annual liquidation reports under PCSO's internal rules, Commission on Audit (COA) requirements and disbursements, and President

Benigno Aquino III's administration's policies on transparency and accountability.

For 2012, PCSO allocated a budget of P193.1 million for the endowment fund to assist 86 beneficiary government hospitals in line with President Aquino's policy on universal health care for Filipinos. In June alone, PCSO released P8.5 million to six hospitals in Luzon.

Meanwhile, PCSO is developing new policies to improve the delivery of its services, particularly through the individual medical assistance program which benefits hundreds of needy patients every day.

Fund Allocation Department Officer-In-Charge Manager Dr. Larry Cedro said all PCSO social services will be transferred to his department in order to cut the processing time of patients' requests.

"We are finding ways to make it convenient for the patients so that they don't have to come to Manila to file their requests," Cedro said.

One strategy is to open more branch offices. Two more have been opened so far this year, in Calbayog, Samar and Tuao, Cagayan, bringing to 27 the total number of PCSO offices all over the country. (PR)