Better than we think

If, God forbid, I happen to be a gunshot victim, please bring me to the PGH.

If, God forbid, a dog infected with rabies bites me, please bring me to Jose Reyes Memorial or San Lazaro hospital. If several bones in my body are broken, kindly bring me to the National Orthopedic Hospital. If you suspect that I’m having a cardiac episode or a stroke rush me to the Philippine Heart Center, and if it’s about my internal organs, I think I’ll be fine at the Kidney Center.

I am not writing down a will or instructions in case of a medical emergency. I am simply trying to point out how many people fail to appreciate the expertise and track record of many public hospitals especially in terms of their “popular” specialties. Critics and bureaucrats, especially politicians, eagerly point out that these hospitals are “losing money,” but won’t acknowledge that these hospitals are not losing lives but are saving a lot of lives. Politicians clamor for efficiency but are blind to the “teaching” benefits of these hospitals, where interns are literally in the front lines in the treatment of trauma, gunshot wounds, stabbings etc. In the very corridors of such poorly funded government hospitals, many future surgeons and specialists face the greatest challenges with the minimum of equipment and supplies. Given the pittance that Congress gives to government hospitals, the level of efficiency and service in these facilities are remarkably impressive.

I find it ridiculous to hear government officials and politicians tell us that the best way to solve the problems of government hospitals losing money is to sell them or privatize them. That has nothing to do with understanding the problem and solving it. Selling or privatizing government hospitals is nothing more than passing off the problem and making a quick buck. Government hospitals were never meant to be profitable. They are intended to provide a service for the people, mostly the poor. They were designed to be funded and managed by government, not to be bought or managed by private sector firms with the intent to make money.

The fact that businessmen or corporations are willing to buy up government hospitals already tells us that something is right about the “product,” enough for people to want to buy them. The hospitals serve a need, they have a natural customer base, they have a built in core of doctors, experts and personnel, the facilities, real estate and central location make them very ideal. The only question is: Profit or Service?

Government hospitals are performing their intended tasks and meeting their social objectives. They can do things better, if continuing investments were made by government, based on a plan that prioritizes hospital care and hospital development. But that is where the true problem lies. The people who often want to solve the problem don’t know what the problem is.

It is all about funding and not about business. Public hospitals are supposed to be giving out a service, not selling a product. It is sheer stupidity to compare a government hospital to a private hospital because the former is for service while the latter is for profit. Duh!

Instead of throwing out the baby with the bath water, officials and politicians should find ways and means to feed the “baby.” It’s so stupid that we have a Road User’s Tax for roads our taxes are suppose to be paying for in the first place. We have entertainment tax on movies, concerts, even the MTRCB charges money for anything that comes out on TV in spite of the fact that we already pay VAT. But how come Congress has not come out with dedicated tax laws that would fund government hospitals? Why does funding for public hospitals always have to be an annual haggle with Congress?

Now that Senator Frank Drilon has managed to float his version of the Sin Tax, the last thing we should be doing is selling off government hospitals. What officials and politicians should be doing is finding ways to encourage corporations and individuals to provide funding, grants etc. to government hospitals.

I can already hear the argument that “now is the time to sell government hospitals because we have medical insurance courtesy of PhilHealth.” I support and appreciate the service and the help that PhilHealth provides, but considering their relatively small resource, the last thing I want to see is them paying out three times more to private hospitals, what would be a lot cheaper in government hospitals. Government hospitals and socialized medical insurance are meant to compliment each other. The minute you change the formula and introduce profit, then the coverage and potential service automatically get reduced by virtue of costs.

What all these highlights is the fact that many officials and politicians today have lost sight of what true PUBLIC SERVICE really means. That’s what happens when public servants try to copy a business model and try to be what they are not.

*      *      *

With the PNP and several local government units mandating the installation of close circuit televisions in business establishment, it may be time for the DTI or the proper agency to set the standards for the quality of the CCTVs. A number of people have observed that often times, the images recorded by CCTVs are so poor that you could not even tell if the subject was male or female, and were usually so poor in clarity that a sketch artist would have a better chance doing a rendering directly from a witness account than the CCTV.

In addition, I hope the PNP and DILG jump the gun and make sure that cops, firemen and city engineers don’t put up stores or sidelines selling CCTV systems just like some firemen selling fire extinguishers!