Hospital fund underutilized

CEBU, Philippines - Despite adequate funds, Cebu City Guba Emergency Hospital has reportedly failed to provide “quality” medical services to its constituents in the upland barangays.

 The satellite hospital of the Cebu City Medical Center has only utilized about P1 million of its P18 million appropriated budget this year.

Councilor Margarita Osmeña, chairperson of the committee on budget and finance, said they received numerous complaints that the hospital lack medical supplies, nurses and resident doctors.

Of the P18 million appropriation, she said, about P1 million was obligated and earmarked for medicine supplies and none for laboratories and other accounts.

Osmeña raised the unutilized funds for Guba yesterday as the Local Finance Committee proposed P19.9 million for the hospital’s operations next year.

 “Do not ask for a huge budget if you cannot utilize it all. Seeing all these balances anugon kaayo,” she said.

 She cited unutilized budget for medical supplies (P1.1 million), miscellaneous and other operating expenses (P1.8 million), among others.

 Osmeña added that the amount could have been used for other essential purposes instead of keeping it unused.

City hospital chief Dr. Gloria Duterte said the budget was not fully utilized because the utilization of drugs and other medicines are very minimal.

The satellite hospital has only 10 admissions and 800 out-patients every month. But, the members of the City Council argued that there were no patients admitted at the mountain hospital.

“There is no single patient there now. Mura raman gani to tambakan or storage area, hugaw kaayo,” Osmeña pointed out.

 Duterte defended that the proposed budget is needed to complete the set of doctors, nurses, administration, midwives, pharmacists and radiotech specialists to attend more to the needs of the city’s constituents.

 Councilor Mary Ann Delos Santos, chairman of the committee on health, assured that she will resolve the matter with Duterte and the assigned department heads in the satellite hospital. (FREEMAN)