Senator Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara on Monday filed a bill that would build hospitals inside state universities and colleges (SUCs) that offer medical courses.
Angara filed Senate Bill No. 1850 or the proposed Healthcare Facility Augmentation Act, which aims to construct hospitals within the SUCs. He said that the medical facility would serve as the training ground for medical students.
“Just like what UP-PGH (University of the Philippines-Philippine General Hospital) has long been doing. Hindi na sila kailangan pa lumayo sa sarili nilang bakod para makakuha ng experience na kailangan para maging doktor at nars, (They don’t need to go far from their place to look for experience as a doctor and nurse),” Angara said.
The bill proposed that graduates of the medical degree programs in the SUCs that availed the government’s scholarship program would be required to render their return service in the SUC hospital from which they graduated.
The Philippines has nine SUCs offering medical courses: University of Northern Philippines, Mariano Marcos State University, University of the Philippines- Leyte, Cagayan State University, Mindanao State University- General Santos, Bicol University, West Visayas State University, Mindanao State University- Marawi, and University of the Philippines– Manila.
Angara: Build hospitals inside SUCs offering medical courses
Meanwhile, 45 SUCs are offering Bachelor of Science in Nursing courses.
Angara said he would like to see more SUCs offering medical courses so that students could practice medicine wherever they are located.
The senator added he filed Senate Resolution No. 528 to ask the Senate to check the financial requirement needed to put up public medical schools in every region in the Philippines.
“SUCs, as they are funded by the national government and are deemed the most accessible higher educational institution to the general public, should take up the cudgels of ensuring that their own regions would have enough medical manpower to be ready for existing and emerging health services needs of the country,” Angara said in filing the resolution.
“The reality that six out of 10 Filipinos die without seeing a medical professional is very alarming. After seeing the data, it explains why our healthcare system was overwhelmed when we were hit by the COVID-19 pandemic,” Angara lamented.
“We need to strengthen our healthcare system, and two of the initial steps that we can take is to produce more doctors and nurses and to increase the number of hospitals that will serve our people,” he added.