THE Provincial Government hospitals of Eastern Samar under Acting Governor Marcelo Picardal have collected a total of P164,007,151.22 as of December 2018, exceeding its P100-million target last year.

“The increase in our hospital collection is the result of Governor Picardal’s ‘Proyekto 25.’ Under his administration, he put up a mechanism to ensure efficient delivery of government services to our constituents,” said Provincial Administrator George Erroba.

“This is one of the goals of ‘Proyekto 25,’ to provide transparency and good governance in Picardal’s administration,” Erroba added.

Erroba said the full implementation of “No Balance Billing” policy and the establishment of Provincial Governor’s Office (PGO) in the hospitals “regained the trust of the public in terms of the services of the health care facilities in the province.”

“Through the establishment of PGO, Governor Picardal is bringing the government closer to the people. The office will immediately respond to the problems and monitor the needs of the patients,” said Erroba.

“With the availability of the medicines and supplies, more people opted to go to government hospitals because of the availability of logistics,” the administrator added.

As of November 2018, about 18,230 in-patients (admissions) were accommodated in all of the province's hospitals.

Forty-four percent of the patients were admitted at Eastern Samar Provincial Hospital.

On the average, the monthly bed occupancy rate is 80 percent.

According to its 2018 accomplishment report, five out of nine hospitals had more than 85 percent monthly bed occupancy rate.

In 2017, the provincial average of monthly bed occupancy rate is 48 percent, and this was increased to 80 percent in 2018, it added.

The PhilHealth benefit payment is 98 percent of all hospital collection.

PhilHealth officials across the country also recognized the reforms established by Picardal in the Provincial Government hospitals, said Erroba.

Meanwhile, Erroba said that “Proyekto 25” aims to lower the poverty incidence of 46.3 percent in Eastern Samar into 25 percent by focusing on the development of health, good governance, agri-fishery, and tourism.

He said Picardal is “keen on implementing inclusive solution through "Proyekto 25" for the province to be out from the list of poorest provinces” in the country. (SunStar Philippines)