Friday, October 20, 2006 Sotto hospital workers won’t tangle with Capitol
NO MATTER how many times the Provincial Government tries to attack the medical practices of the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC), the hospital will never respond to any “word war.”
VSMMC community spokesperson Elmer Meceda told Sun.Star Cebu they are not good with words, only in their job as doctors, nurses, and as utility workers.
“We’re only good with our job taking good care of our patients as doctors or nurses, or in the case of our in keeping the place orderly as the case of our utility workers,” said Meceda, a doctor.
“We never (attacked) the Provincial Government because foremost, we are after the interest of the whole medical center...this is not something personal,” he added.
Meceda said the VSMMC staff met with hospital chief Filomena delos Santos last Wednesday where she reported that the proposal to turnover primary and secondary services to the Capitol has been aborted.
“The DOH proposal will not be pursued anymore,” Meceda quoted delos Santos during the meeting, talking about the status of the controversial proposal.
The DOH delivered the news to the Capitol in a meeting last Wednesday attended by Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia, Health Assistant Secretary Nemesio Gako, DOH 7 officials and delos Santos.
The cancellation, though, did not go down well with the Provincial Government, as Capitol consultant Pablo John Garcia said Wednesday that they never asked to take over the primary and secondary services of the hospital in the first place.
DOH made the offer, Garcia said.
Investigation
Capitol fired back with a plan to investigate the reported “bad services” and “milking of patients” at the VSMMC.
But Meceda believes the rightful agency to investigate such reports is the DOH and that a probe will benefit the hospital as it will make way for transparency and determine the real problem of the hospital.
Meceda explained that some patients may have complained because they were not treated immediately because of the lack of manpower, which is essentially a budgetary problem.
“We believe that the proper authority to investigate (VSMMC) is the DOH…. But looking at it in a positive light, this is another way where the medical center will be improved,” said Meceda.
And instead of bad-mouthing the Provincial Government for planning an investigation on the hospital, Meceda assured Capitol that it will help in managing primary and secondary services.
But Garcia said they do not want any of that.
The VSMMC employees, meanwhile, want to get a copy of the minutes of the meeting of the health executive committee where the decision to withdraw the takeover proposal was made.
But even without a signed memorandum from Health Secretary Francisco Duque, Meceda took the word of Gako as an official indication that the proposal has already been shelved, just as the Capitol did.
The spokesperson lauded the DOH for a “mature” decision of listening to the VSMMC employees rather than stand on their earlier proposal just to escape embarrassment from Capitol.
Last Wednesday, after hearing the new development, VSMMC employees removed their black armbands, as well as banners and other posters signifying their protest against the Capitol takeover of primary and secondary services. (JGA)
