Selling off our institutions

A cabinet member of the P-Noy administration recently asked for my support concerning their plans to “upgrade” the National Orthopedic Hospital. Rather than be polite and feign support, I felt it necessary to openly state that I will be on the opposing side of the proposition because selling off our institutions to private sector buyers and corporations will never solve the problem, it will simply become a way out, a washing of hands for government leaders to take responsibility and take action to improve institutions such as the NOH.

Why is it that government officials have no problem selling off institutions associated with serving the poor? Is it because they, the “rich” people in government, are not dependent and never patronize government hospitals and therefore have no appreciation or emotion about selling them to the highest bidder?

Is it really about the never-ending government expense to run public hospitals, or is it simply a class-related perspective of government officials who also happen to be rich and therefore believe that just like them, everybody should pay their way or foot their bill? Or is it about certain minions of private corporations who are now able to influence government policies and decisions in order to give undue advantage to the parent companies they are so loyal to?

The plan to sell the NOH is clearly unpopular and has already met stiff resistance from NOH employees, patients and beneficiaries as well as media. I for one have been a patient of the NOH in my teen years and that episode was forever etched in my mind, resulting in a bond if not loyalty, for the NOH and the service I received back then.

My problem with the “request” for support is that the administration has not been totally transparent about what the new “Center for Bone and Joint disease, Trauma and Rehabilitation Medicine” will turn out to be once a private corporation or multinational corporation gets their greedy fingers on the pie. Yes there is the promise of newer and better facilities, but how much will prices change in terms of confinement, laboratory fees, therapy, charges for surgical procedures, and how much or how many poor patients will be cared for by the new center?

Government officials have been selling us the idea that after the proper implementation of PhilHealth, there will no longer be any need for “charity wards.” Imagine the bold optimism they convey considering our Lord Jesus Christ himself declared: “The poor you shall have always.” If these government officials are willing to set a deadline when this will happen and are willing to hang themselves in Luneta if it does not, then maybe, just maybe, I might grudgingly believe them. Fortunately I don’t take the drugs they take so I find those notions hard to believe.

The cabinet member who asked for my help termed the NOH spin-off as a sort of Rebuild-Operate and Transfer, while others call it PPP or Public Private Partnership.  As optimistic as I wish to be, the sad reality is that when businessmen take over establishments built to provide public services such as hospitals, schools etc. the price the public ends up paying is higher than what the government actually collects in the sale or transaction. As far as the NOH “sale” is concerned, I have to state that it is not a mere sale or transfer of property, but giving the NOH away on a silver platter.

To begin with, reports indicate that the P-Noy administration has already set aside P1 billion to window dress the National Orthopedic Hospital in order to make it attractive to possible investors. I find this approach as the best example of throwing good money after bad. Why spend P1 billion more just to get a better deal? Any buyer who believes in the numbers that the NOH can generate would be best left to renovate or rebuild the facility at their expense.

If the original premise to selling off government hospitals was to cut cost in the first place, then why spend more money? If the P-Noy administration can spend P1 billion then why not spend it as seed money to undertake the improvements and renovation of the Orthopedic? Why not channel funds from PAGCOR to such investments instead of using them for political projects under the Office of the President and members of Congress? Why not lobby for a legislated mandatory allocation of X percent from the pork barrel of every member of Congress and designate the money to government hospitals such as the NOH.

If the P-Noy administration wants better facilities and services then let these so-called businessmen build MORE! The more facilities the better, but selling off historical institutions and centers of excellence such as the “Orthopedic” is not just a lazy man’s solution, it is tantamount to prostituting our hospitals. If these hospitals were so bad, why then would top notch corporations want to invest billions of pesos on them?

It’s really quite simple, by buying an “institution” they already have the brand name, the goodwill and the public trust that take years to make and hundreds of millions to establish. By buying an institution they no longer have to go through the long and economically painful process of hiring, firing, managing and operating a major hospital. All they have to do is streamline, prioritize and monetize matters. The best thing is that they have manpower resource of the best and most experienced in the specialty of bone related medicine. And because they bought the hospital from government, they would be free of labor issues, retirement or separation fees, etc. They actually get to buy the farm for the price of a cow!

What we need are professional managers of public hospitals and not property salesmen posing as cabinet members.

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In a related topic, if the government wants to promote volunteerism and pro bono work among doctors particularly surgeons, anesthesiologists, and other specialists, then the Department of Health and the Department of Finance should come together and create a “tax deductible” points system where doctors who perform services for free to the indigent, elderly and disabled would in turn get points that can be totaled and converted to income or business tax deductions with the BIR.

I know of a number of doctors who regularly wave sizeable professional fees for surgery, but only get a thank you for their sacrifice. If doctors can be charitable, then the government should be likewise!

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