Malacañang has found nothing wrong with the huge Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) allocation given to the Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC) for coronavirus response since it is the biggest government hospital facility in the country.
(OPS / FILE PHOTO / MANILA BULLETIN)
According to Presidential spokesman Harry Roque, the SPMC is a government hospital with 1,500-bed capacity, 3,600 personnel, and several “stand alone” specialty buildings.
The healthcare facility is located in Davao City the hometown of President Duterte.
"We find nothing irregular in the PhilHealth Interim Reimbursement Mechanism (IRM) allocation of Southern Philippines Medical Center," Roque said Wednesday.
"SPMC, for the information of everyone, is a 1,500-bed hospital with almost 3,600 personnel. Per DOH (Department of Health), it is the biggest hospital facility in the country as a government hospital," he said.
Roque noted the total admissions to SPMC reached 76,586 last year. Around 586,278 outpatients were recorded in the same period.
He said SPMC also has several integrated specialty buildings such as the Heart Institute, the Institute for Women and Newborn Care, the Orthopedic and Rehabilitation Institute, the Cancer Institute, the Intensive Care Complex, and the main hospital for General Medicine and Surgery. The hospital also has the biggest hemodialysis in the country with 65 dialysis chairs.
Roque also cited that SPMC has the highest PhilHealth income "breaking the billion mark."
"Its average income for 2018-2019 is P1.2 billion. IRM is based on the monthly average or the track record of reimbursement for 2018-19," he added.
He added that the hospital has the biggest amount of claims "due to its regular provision of healthcare services to patients all over Mindanao."
A Senate inquiry on the alleged corruption in PhilHealth revealed that the Davao-based hospital has received the biggest share of cash advances from the state firm for COVID-19 response at P326 million.
The University of the Philippines-Philippine General Hospital came second with P263 million, followed by the Davao Regional Medical Center with P209 million.