Four government-owned hospitals in Bohol wasted P1.8 million worth of expired medicines which were bought through bulk procurement in 2022, the Commission on Audit (COA) said.

In its audit report, COA identified the hospitals as the Garcia Memorial Provincial Hospital (GMPH) in Talibon, Teodoro B. Galagar District Hospital (TBGDH) in Jagna, Cong. Simeon G. Toribio Memorial Hospital (CSGTMH) in Carmen, and Catigbian District Hospital (CDH) in Catigbian.

COA said the four devolved hospitals have the highest budget in 2022 and have been selected for the audit which was conducted from Nov. 10 to 23, 2023.

It pointed out that one of the red flags spotted by state auditors is the loss of P1,845,124.52 worth of expired drugs purchased by the hospitals.

"Management procured its drugs and medicines for six-month periods departing from the three-month requirement ceiling under Section 361 of Republic Act No. 7160 attributable to the incorrect implementation of bulk procurement approach resulting in total actual loss from expiration of P1,845,124.52 and exposure to risk of further spoilage and expiration in the subsequent periods," COA’s report stated.

It said that TBGDH reported a total loss of P985,195.93; CDH, P453,233.17; CSGTMH, P400,155.19, and GMPH, P6,540.23.

It lamented that the hospitals justified their departure from the three-month requirement ceiling and enforced a bulk procurement system per semester or every six months.

It added that the hospitals also implemented a policy where the Bids and Awards Committee allows for emergency purchase once the medicines reach 50 percent of their stock or if there is an unforeseen need.

But COA said the hospitals should have balanced the risk simultaneously with other concerns of availability of drugs and medicines.

"Management's current concept of bulk procurement is subjecting all its drugs and medicines needs for a given semester and having the winning bidder deliver all at once the drugs and medicines pursuant to the contract being awarded, which covers the hospital's needs for the six-month period," COA said.

"Although this approach may be able to address the availability of drugs and medicines as soon as the winning bidder delivers ... it directly contravenes the three-month requirement of R.A. 7160. And as these continue, management's exposure to further losses from spoilage and expiration of drugs and medicines in the succeeding periods also continues," it pointed out.

Thus, COA recommended that the four hospitals should balance its concerns of ensuring availability of drugs and medicines with its procurement. In doing so, they might be able to avoid incurring costs from spoilage and expiration, it stressed.