THE Senate on Monday passed the Bill No. 2212, also known as the Regional Specialty Centers Act, which seeks to establish regional specialty healthcare centers across the Philippines.
This is one of the bills being promoted by the legislative-executive development advisory council and Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri.
Under the bill, all Philippine regions are required to establish at least one specialty center in government hospitals, in an effort to decentralize the services of specialty centers such as the Philippine Children’s Medical Center, Philippine Heart Center, Lung Center of the Philippines, and National Kidney, and Transplant Institute (NKTI), all of which are located in Metro Manila.
It can be remembered that in his first State of the Nation Address, President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. said that Filipinos should have adequate access to medical services, particularly those living outside Metro Manila.
In the said proposal, national specialty hospitals—such as the Lung Center, Heart Center, and NKTI—are mandated to serve as the main information hub for their respective specializations.
Such hospitals will also take the lead in conducting research and developing standards for services under their purview.
Aside from Zubiri, the said proposal was also sponsored by the Committee on Health and Demography Chairperson, Sen. Bong Go.
The said proposal was approved on its third and final reading in the Senate on Monday and is now awaiting the signature of Pres. Marcos.
