Rep. Biron pushes tertiary hospital in 4th district

By Francis Allan L. Angelo

Iloilo 4^th congressional district Rep. Braeden John Q. Biron is pushing for the upgrading of the Don Jose S. Monfort Medical Center Extension Hospital (DJSMMCEH) in Barotac Nuevo, Iloilo into an independent, tertiary hospital.

Rep. Biron set his plan into motion when he filed House Bill No.  6536 on Mar 10, 2020.

The bill is entitled “An act expanding the mandate and service capability of the Don Jose S. Monfort Medical Center Extension Hospital in the Municipality of Barotac Nuevo, Iloilo, renaming the same as Don Jose S. Monfort Medical Center and appropriating funds therefor.”

This bill mandates the expansion of Don Jose S. Monfort Medical Center Extension Hospital into a three hundred (300)-bed capacity tertiary hospital. It shall be renamed as Don Jose S. Monfort Medical Center, a separate and distinct health institution which can function independently and not just as an extension of Western Visayas Medical Center (WVMC) in Iloilo City.

“The end purpose is to be able to amplify and increase the number of services and develop specialized services as a general hospital. This would enhance the offered healthcare services, to patients from different social statuses especially, the financially challenged,” the bill reads.

Based on the bill’s explanatory note, DJSMMCEH is a retained hospital of the Department of Health located in Barotac Nuevo, Iloilo, a one of its kind in the 4th district of Iloilo.

Presently, the hospital is licensed to operate as a 100-bed, Level I hospital with budget allocation from the national government.

By virtue of Republic Act No. 8372, it functions as an extension hospital under the supervision of WVMC.

But Biron noted the growing need of the 4^th district constituency for primary health care services, thus he pushed for the expansion and upgrading of the hospital to ensure accessible, quality and affordable health care services as envisioned in the Universal Health Care.

Based on data indicated in the bill, the bed occupancy rate of DJSMMCEH has spiked by as high as 170%, in 2018, showing the imperative need for the expansion.

The number of deliveries in the hospital exponentially increased from 958 in 2015 to 1,622 in 2019. The same trend was also noted in the number of surgeries, from 2,875 in 2015 to 6,080 four years later.

Between 2015 and 2019, laboratory services expanded from 50,552 to 118,095 while radiology services spiked from 7,732 to 16,972 in the same period.

With the development of Universal Health Care, DJSMMCEH is expected to serve more patients especially those households below the average income.

“In view of the rising need of the people for better quality and accessible healthcare, the promotion and prioritization of our Government of Universal Health Care for all Filipinos, and the urgency of addressing the lack of hospital facilities and resources that could promote these objectives, the passage of this bill is most earnestly sought.”