SOME P5.1 million was allotted by the Baguio City Council for the Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center (BGHMC).
Baguio City Vice Mayor Faustino Olowan with Councilor Betty Lourdes Tabanda both moved to allocate the fund for medical equipment and medical cash assistance for indigent patients.
The city council has earmarked P4,200,000 for hospital needs while Mayor Benjamin Magalong allotted P550,000 with the vice mayor’s office funding P350,000.
It was in 2009 when the city and the BGH entered into an agreement to set into place funding for the state hospital.
The 2009 rules for medical assistance show coverage for indigent patients who are residents of the city and extended only to those confined in the charity wards of the hospital covering drugs, medicine, services, professional and laboratory fees. Different rules apply for emergency indigent outpatients.
Lawmakers and officials may then identify and recommend patients through a letter addressed to the medical chief of the hospital indicating the maximum amount to be availed. The letter will then be accompanied by proof the patient is indigent as well as proof of residency.
Guidelines for indigent patient funding as well as procedures on how to help the needy and qualified Baguio residents have also been set and still carried today.
BGHMC not only caters to patients from Baguio City and Cordillera but also to nearby provinces of Ilocos and Cagayan Valley.
Former Senator JV Ejercito earlier approved House Bill 6619, increasing the bed the capacity of the BGHMC from 500 to 800 beds.
Baguio City Representative Mark Go meanwhile remains optimistic of the vast improvement for BGHMC with Senate’s recent approval of House Bill 6619, which seeks to increase the bed capacity of the hospital.
The hospital started as Baguio Sanatorium on February 3, 1902 pioneered by Dr. Eugene Stafford, captain of the staff of General Arthur MacArthur in the 1900’s, today it is a tertiary hospital under the National Government.