PCSO medical assistance available in 44 hospitals

MANILA, Philippines — Beginning Jan. 3 next year, the Medical Assistance Program of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) will be available only in 44 hospitals with Malasakit Centers in Metro Manila, Batangas, Cebu, Iloilo, Laguna and Palawan.

These are public hospitals operated either by the Department of Health or local government units, according to the PCSO.

Of the 44 hospitals, 30 are located in the National Capital Region.

The charity agency said requests for medical aid would be given to indigent patients at the Batangas Medical Center and Batangas Provincial Hospital; Laguna Medical Center; Culion Sanitarium and General Hospital, and Ospital ng Palawan.

In Cebu province, medical assistance will be available in six government hospitals: Cebu City Medical Center, Eversley Child Sanitarium Lapu Lapu City Hospital, St. Anthony Mother and Child Hospital, Talisay District Hospital/Cebu South Medical Center and Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center.

In Iloilo, the MAP assistance will be available at the Malasakit Centers of the Don Jose Monfort Medical Center Extension Hospital, Western Visayas Medical Center and Western Visayas Sanitarium.

The PCSO has vowed to provide medical assistance to the poor despite being one of the primary funding agencies for the government’s Universal Healthcare program.

Under Republic Act 1223 or the Universal Healthcare Act, the PCSO is mandated to allocate 40 percent of its charity funds for the implementation of the law.