By SHIELA MAE BUTLIG
Correspondent
CHIEFS of government hospitals would end up being slapped with fines of up to P100 thousand unless they put in place dialysis centers — that is, if Sen. Juan Edgardo Angara succeeds in pushing for the approval of a proposed law.
Angara’s Senate Bill 1329 provides for free dialysis sessions in any government hospital for indigents with kidney ailments.
At the start of the Philippine Association of Local Government Accountants’ three-day conference at the Limketkai Atrium here, Angara said the Dialysis Center Bill provides that every governmentun hospital must establish, operate and maintain a dialysis ward or unit for poor patients.
He said there was a need for government to establish the dialysis centers for the poor, citing the number of citizens with kidney problems who are forced to travel to urban cities for dialysis.
“Worse, some patients died without being given a chance to undergo dialysis because they could not afford it,” said Angara.
Based on Angara’s proposal, the dialysis centers in national, regional and provincial hospitals must be equipped with complete dialysis machines and related equipment and medical supplies.
The proposed law seeks to mandate government hospitals to ensure that dialysis treatments will be “available, accessible and will be cost-efficient.”
If it becomes a law, government hospitals would have two years to set up their dialysis units.
If they fail, the hospital chief, administrator or officer-in-charge could end up being fined of up to P100 thousand.
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