Where are the medicines?
All but one in eleven government hospitals in the Province of Antique have more than the government as its common denominator.
Records now showed that true to the state of these ten medical service institutions is its lack of medicine and medical supplies. As per documents obtained by The News Today (TNT), the prevailing sorry state is true from the biggest, Angel Salazar Memorial General Hospital in the capital town of San Jose.
Incidentally, it is way better for Tugon Medical Clinic, the only one in the list that appeared to have a reasonable supply.
Latest figures revealed that in payments made by the national government's PhilHealth Insurance Program, double are the statistics in as far as member-reimbursements were made to the ten hospitals.
"Where are the medicines?," a concerned health worker asked while lamenting the lack of provincial and municipal support to the PhilHealth program here. "And it is truly appalling because there are a number of misplaced priorities that we see in Antique."
A closer look of the over-all hospital operation scenario in Antique towns disclosed a huge disparity.
For instance, latest total hospital drug and medicine reimbursement made by PhilHealth in the ten government hospitals was placed at a little over P219,000. Compare the figure to members' claims for drug and medicines showed over P3.7 million.
"What it tells us is that there are no medicines available for the sick and poor people in Antique that are available in the hospitals so they are forced to buy elsewhere. That is not how PhilHealth was designed. That is not how during elections the promises were made for better health services or that health is a priority program," one local who requested anonymity told TNT.
The Tugon Medical Clinic recorded the highest in drug and medicine PhilHealth payment at P117,343 while members or patients confined here only had reimbursements at P18,540.
In stark contrast is the P32,830 of Angel Salazar Memorial General Hospital where over P3.2 million were total payments made to members' or patients' claims.
The Pedro Gindap Municipal Hospital for its part had zero drug and medicine claim that had its patients purchase medicines outside the hospital.
Unfortunately, Antique shares the limelight with the Province of Iloilo with similar scenario where in need are more medicines and less poor sick people.