131 specialty hospitals put up in 2023 – Marcos

GOVERNMENT has put up 131 specialty centers in hospitals nationwide in 2023, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said yesterday, adding similar facilities will be established this year under an P11.12 billion allocation of the Department of Health (DOH) in the 2024 national budget.

In a video message released by Malacañang, the President said that under Republic Act No. 11959, or the Regional Specialty Centers Act, that he signed in August last year, specialty hospitals would be built in different parts of the country.

Under the said law, the DOH is designated to establish specialty centers in its hospitals in every region and in state-controlled specialty hospitals, prioritizing cancer care, cardiovascular care, lung care, renal care and kidney transplant, brain and spine care, trauma care and burn care.

The specialty centers shall also prioritize orthopedic care, physical rehabilitation medicine, infectious disease and tropical medicine, toxicology, mental health, geriatric care, neonatal care, dermatology, eye care, and ear, nose, and throat care.

The President inaugurated last year the Clark Multi-Specialty Medical Center (CMSMC), which specializes in pediatric, renal, cardiovascular and oncology treatment.

Marcos said more specialty centers will be established this year with the allocation of P11.12 billion in the budget for their construction.

Lawmakers also want to put up specialty hospitals not just in every region but in every province.

The President, meanwhile, said the government was able to deploy and fill up the need for medical doctors in 201 of the 218 municipalities in the country under the Doctors to the Barangays program.

This accounts for 91 percent of the total number of municipalities which now have doctors to look after the health of the people.

“Napaka importante nito. Patuloy pa itong programang ito para naman masabi natin na talaga nating binabantayan ang kalusugan ng ating mga mamamayan (This is important. We will sustain this program so we can say that we really monitored the health of the people),” Marcos said.

The Doctors to the Barangays program was first established in 1990s to deploy doctors to municipalities without medical