The House committee on transportation approved House Bill 6090, which seeks the establishment and construction of the Philippine Coast Guard General Hospital (PCGGH) to give dignity and provide an efficient health care delivery system to Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) personnel and their dependents.
The proposed “Philippine Coast Guard General Hospital Act,” authored by Rep. Federico Sandoval II (Lone District, Malabon City), aims to ensure the availability, accessibility and affordability of quality health care services to all PCG personnel and their dependents.
The bill seeks to provide a package of health care programs to the PCG personnel and their dependents that includes preventive, promotive, diagnostic, curative and rehabilitative programs.
The package of health care programs for PCG personnel and their dependents includes preventive, promotive, diagnostic, curative and rehabilitative programs.
It also mandates the conduct of medical examination of all the trainees of the PCG to ensure their physical and mental capability, monitoring of the condition of patients, and generation of relevant information and date in aid of policy information.
The proposed PCGGH shall be constructed at the Coast Guard Base Taguig in Lower Bicutan, Taguig City.
The PCGGH shall be administered by a board of directors composed of the Secretaries of the Department of Health (DOH) and the Department of Transportation (DOTr) as ex-officio chairperson and vice chairperson, respectively, and the Commandant and Deputy of the PCG, and Command Surgeon of the PCG Medical Services, as members.
The board shall formulate and implement measures and programs to attain the objectives of the PCGGH.
The board shall also develop a program of patient care and hospital administration that includes establishment, management, operation and maintenance of a hospital organization.
An amount of P400 million shall be appropriated for the establishment and initial operations of the PCGGH. Thereafter, future appropriations for its operation shall be included in the annual General Appropriations Act (GAA).
Sandoval said that after being separated from the Philippine Navy, all the privileges accorded him by the PCG, as provided by the Armed Forces of the Philippine (AFP), stopped, including the medical benefits.
The committee on transportation is chaired by Rep. Cesar Sarmiento (Lone District, Catanduanes).