House OKs bill creating apex hospitals in every region

MANILA – Apex hospitals would soon be established in every region across the country to strengthen the Philippine health delivery system as a bill proposing such hurdled second reading at the House of Representatives.

During Tuesday’s plenary session, the chamber passed House Bill 10650, which provides for the conversion of regional hospitals, which are general hospitals that have at least 500 beds, to operate as apex hospitals.

An apex hospital is defined in the bill as an end-referral hospital offering specialized services and is contracted as a stand-alone facility by the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation.

The bill provides for the minimum physical facilities, equipment and instruments, and service delivery requirements for all apex hospitals.

All apex hospitals, at the minimum, shall have an ambulatory surgical clinic, anatomic and clinical laboratory, blood station, dialysis facility, general intensive care unit, high risk pregnancy unit, isolation facilities, neonatal intensive care unit, nuclear medicine facility, physical medicine and rehabilitation facility, psychiatry facility, radiologic facilities, and surgical facility and maternity facility, among others.

All apex hospitals shall offer services for all kinds of illnesses, diseases, injuries, or deformities.

It shall have certified and eligible medical specialists to facilitate timely, efficient, affordable, and accessible diagnosis and treatment for clinical services and basic emergency care services.

At least one medical specialist shall be assigned for cardiology, neurology, oncology, pathology, pulmonology, psychiatry, rehabilitation medicine, and urology, among others.