NEWS | PGH, EAMC receive additional funding for 2021
By Rowz Fajardo
The Philippine General Hospital (PGH) and the East Avenue Medical Center (EAMC) received additional budgets from Congress under the P4.5-trillion 2021 General Appropriations Act (GAA) to broaden their free medical services ensuring that the public can avail of these services for the entire year, Sen. Juan Edgardo ‘’Sonny’’ M. Angara said on January 9.
Vital Role of PGH
Angara, chairman of the Senate finance committee, stated that the PGH was provided with an additional P1.54 billion in its budget.
He said that he recognized the vital role that PGH provides to the poor and every other patient in need of quality medical attention, especially now that the country is still battling with the COVID-19 pandemic, thus he pushed for an increase in the funds of the PGH.
Furthermore, according to Angara, PGH needs a significant amount of financial support to cater persons who cannot afford specialized care offered in private hospitals, as it serves over 600,000 patients annually and is the national referral center for tertiary care.
“PGH needs a significant amount of financial support to cater to all those who are sick or need specialized care but could not afford to go to a private hospital. The additional budget for the PGH would also result in the accommodation of more patients who need to undergo heart surgery,” Angara added.
Intervention for Heart Surgery
According to Angara, heart diseases continue to be one of the leading causes of death among Filipinos, and as such more people need heart surgery.
The PGH is currently able to perform around 50 heart surgeries at an average cost of P170,000 each or P8.5 million per year.
Moreover, with the intervention introduced, the PGH will be able to perform life-saving heart surgeries on as many as 200 patients for 2021.
2021 Budget Appropriations
Under the 2021 budget, the PGH will also be able to start the construction of a multi-specialty facility that will accommodate patients who require specialists in renal care, psychology, dermatology, neuroscience, and advanced laboratory services.
Furthermore, the tertiary hospital can also undertake the construction of a microbial bank that will provide further support to its research and development activities.
According to Angara, the budget will also provide funding support for the implementation of the Republic Act №11358 or the National Vision Screening Act which is authored by him. The law intends to provide a National Vision Screening Program (NVSP) covering all kindergarten pupils entering the school system at ages 5 or 6 to detect errors of refraction and amblyopia or lazy eye.
The NVSP is spearheaded by the University of the Philippines-Philippine Eye Research Institute (PERI), the Department of Health, and the Department of Education.
Additional funds for EAMC
The EAMC is another government hospital which received additional funding for 2021.
The 2021 budget of the EAMC would help start the construction of its radiation center where cancer patients would be able to get specialized care using the linear accelerator of the hospital.
Furthermore, some P37 million is allotted for the establishment of a molecular diagnostic laboratory that will allow the EAMC to conduct reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests for COVID-19. Another P124 million was given for the purchase of laboratory network commodities.
Upon the request of the EAMC, Angara said that funding was provided for the purchase of an additional 20 dialysis machines to augment the existing 15 it is using currently.
“All of these interventions are consistent with one of the thrusts of the 2021 GAA, which is to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. We must strengthen our country’s health system so that it will be able to handle the current and future health crises better,” Angara stated.
