Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto on Tuesday said newly appointed Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) chief Dante Gierran should seek the help of medical health experts as he takes on the task of introducing drastic reforms in the state health insurance agency.
(Senate of the Philippines / FILE PHOTO / MANILA BULLETIN)
Recto made the call as he welcomed Gierran’s appointment as PhilHealth’s new president and chief executive officer (CEO) following the resignation of his predecessor Ricardo Morales.
The senator said reforming the system in PhilHealth and eradicating corruption in the agency is a huge task, and the former National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) director needs support from other qualified people to succeed in his mission.
“If he wants to succeed, Gierran cannot be a one-man army. The work ahead is too tough and too big for a lone ranger. He needs to have strong backup, but they should not be the boys from Taft alone,” Recto said in a statement.
“Better to recruit alumni of NBI’s neighbor, the Philippine General Hospital (PGH).
He needs to form a multi-disciplinary team, without a single OJT (on the job training),” he pointed out.
“This is so because this management change is akin to switching surgeons in the middle of an operation,” added Recto.
Recto pointed out tens of thousands of sick Filipinos rely on PhilHealth every hour of the day and as such, this P150-billion a year corporation cannot afford a pause in its operations.
“It is not a building which can be closed for disinfection. Gierran should multitask: ramping up service while removing the rot,” he said.
Nevertheless, Recto said Gierran can also tap the outstanding professionals within PhilHealth for their institutional memory.
“They know how to repair the institution they love. As to new senior executives who are needed for PhilHealth’s great reset, the Philippines is the world's HR office with no shortage of talent who can be recruited,” he said.
He also said he hopes that the members of the PhilHealth’s executive committee—particularly the five Cabinet men there—would lend Gierran a helping hand as he starts reforming the agency.
“The first to assist and oversee Gierran should be the PhilHealth Board, especially the five Cabinet men there. They should stop being missing-in-action in the affairs of an important health agency,” Recto said.