TACLOBAN CITY, Leyte
– Leyte Governor Carlos Jericho Petilla will receive an award during
the 57th Convention of the Philippine Hospital Association at the
Manila Hotel on Wednesday, November 22, 2006, 6:00 o’clock in the
evening.
Governor Petilla who
is on his first term as the governor of the province of Leyte has done
so much in terms of innovative health programs and services.
Foremost among his
innovations is turning the district hospital in Baybay, Leyte into a
self-sustaining district hospital which is a far cry for it has always
been subsidized by the provincial government in the past.
Today’s realities make
it doubly difficult for hospitals to survive especially with the
increasing cost of inputs and resources required to maintain quality
services. Nonetheless, by collaborating with the relevant private
sector group, Governor Petilla has been able to mobilize people,
improve the facilities and services through networking activities.
Governor Petilla used
participatory governance in this endeavor by enlisting the help of
Sister Eloisa David, the administrator of the
Divine
Word Hospital
in order to help look into the problems of the district hospitals so
that their services will be improved.
Instead of returning
the district hospital to the Department of Health as other weaker
governors do, Governor Petilla turned a non performing asset of
government into a money-making venture. He did this not only by
improving the facilities but also by patiently looking into the value
formation of the hospital staff.
After Baybay District
Hospital, Governor Petilla also improved the services of the
Leyte Provincial
Hospital,
the Abuyog District Hospital and the Ormoc City Hospital.
Satisfied with his
handiwork, Governor Petilla turned his eyes on the mentally deranged
who are loitering in the City for the absence of any facility which
will accommodate them.
Governor Petilla, in
partnership with the private sector again, turned the Babatngon
District Hospital into the Asilo de
San Benito
where the mentally deranged are housed and treated until they are able
to return to the normal society.
Governor Petilla
personally joins the taskforce which goes around the City looking for
the mentally ill. Priority is given to the female mentally deranged
because “they are more exposed to danger.”
Governor Petilla does
not allow the lack of needed funds to deter him from doing what he
feels is urgent like that of the Asilo de
San Benito. In order to source for fund, Governor Petilla himself
sang in a fund-raising concert together with musically gifted priests.
Luckily, Governor Petilla is indeed a consummate singer.
In fact, another
fund-raising concert is in the offing at the LAC Center on November
30, with no less than Sarah Geronimo, who sang the National Anthem in
the just concluded Pacquiao-Morales bout in Las Vegas and Mark
Bautista who together with Ms. Geronimo had a successful concert in
the United States.
As the primary
organization that confers recognition and continuous support to public
and private hospitals in the country, the Philippine Hospital
Association (PHA), led by its president, Dr. Tiburcio Macias, has
played an important role in ensuring access to tertiary health care
among the public. The PHA has collaborated closely with the concerned
public sector agencies, from the Department of Health to the Social
Security System and the Government Service Insurance System, and
Philhealth, so that ordinary Filipinos are not deprived of their right
to inexpensive and quality health care.
