Senate bill seeks to speed up upgrade, increase of health facilities 

A SENATOR has refiled a bill that seeks to expedite the implementation of a development plan for improving existing health facilities and building new ones in unserved and underserved areas.   

Senator Ramon B. Revilla, Jr. filed Senate Bill 26 or the Kaayusan sa Adhikaing Pagamutan Act, which calls for an initial P50-billion budget to address the lack of medical infrastructure in the country.  

“If we are able to adjust and expand our health care facilities and build more accessible hospitals, we will be able to provide more people with medical services while decreasing the number of people who lose their lives,” Mr. Revilla said in a mix of English and Filipino in a statement on Tuesday.  

The Department of Health has reported that facilities in most regions exceeded the ideal hospital bed-to-population ratio of 1:800 by five times at 1:4,000. Only the National Capital Region and Northern Mindanao meet the model ratio.   

“If our proposal becomes a full law, actions to increase hospitals and other health care facilities must be swift so that we can better prepare for any flurry of disease cases, especially since we are still in the time of a pandemic,” he said. — Alyssa Nicole O. Tan