Health workers urge Duterte to stop ‘closure’ of Fabella hospital

MANILA, Philippines (UPDATED) – The fight to save the Dr Jose Fabella Memorial Hospital is not over yet.

A day before the scheduled closure on June 9, the Save Fabella Hospital Movement (SFM) sent a letter to president-elect Rodrigo Duterte, asking him to intervene. SFM, together with the Alliance of Health Workers, (AHW) and other health groups, also staged a picket and an overnight vigil in front of the hospital on Wednesday, June 8.

“The fight against the abolition of Fabella is still ongoing. We have sent a letter to President-elect Rodrigo Duterte urging him to stop the demolition, however we have yet to receive an official response,” the group posted on Facebook on Wednesday.

The hospital is currently located within the 8.42-hectare Old Bilibid Compound in Sta Cruz, Manila. In 2007, the compound was sold to Home Guaranty Corporation (HGC) under former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

National maternal hospital

Fabella Hospital is the national maternal hospital which has been in operation for 96 years already.

Known as the “Paanakan ng Bayan,” Fabella Hospital accommodates about a hundred mothers on a daily basis, while around 1,000 obstetrical and gynecological in-patients share in the hospital’s 700-bed facility.

“If the closure pushes through, where will the many expectant mothers from poor communities and far-flung provinces go to give birth when the replacement institution only has 400 bed capacity instead of the 700 bed capacity operating currently at Fabella?” the group said in its letter to the incoming president. 

During the campaign season, Duterte said that once elected he will require hospitals to have a facility for very poor patients with government paying for the health services using PhilHealth reserve funds, sin tax revenues, and Department of Health (DOH) budget. He also promised to create specialized hospitals (heart, lung, kidney) in Visayas and Mindanao.

Hospitals for poor patients

The Department of Health (DOH) has earlier ordered patients and employees to vacate the hospital before its scheduled demolition on June 9. DOH’s notice came amid findings that 4 out of the Fabella’s 8 buildings are structurally unsound.

 

DOH plans to transform the hospital for poor birthing mothers into a center for women’s health and move it to the health department’s compound in Quezon City. The construction of the new facility – a 6-floor, 800-bed capacity Level 3 hospital – at the DOH compound is expected to be finished by May 2017. 

As part of its preparation, the health department has initially ordered health workers and patients to vacate the maternity hospital before June 9.

Until its completion, DOH said patients and staff will be temporarily transferred to other public hospitals such as the Philippine General Hospital, José R Reyes Memorial Medical Center, and the Fabella outpatient department in Quezon City. 

However, not all healthworkers in the hospital are happy about the decision.

“The impending abolition of Dr Jose Fabella Memorial Hospital on June 9, 2016 spells a death sentence to the already dismal state of maternal and child health services Philippines,” SFM said.

More than 1,300 occupants are ordered to transfer to a 50-bed facility at the DOH compound. 

“We are not against the development of the Fabella hospital, what we are asking for is an on-site development so that there would be no lull in the provision of services,” SFM spokesperson Elvira Mendoza said.

While the SFM agrees that the hospital’s structure needs to be upgraded, they are protesting against its alleged closure.

“In response to structural concerns, DPWH does recommend retrofitting or a new building, but does not condemn the present location nor see it necessary to abolish Fabella.”

The construction of Fabella’s replacement will supposedly cost P1.167 billion, while the hospital’s structural issues need only P400 million.

Health groups noted how the hospital failed to use an allocated budget of P16 million for retrofitting and procurement of hospital equipment in 2010.

This “deprived the hospital and its clientele the immediate use and benefits from the improved facilities and upgraded equipment, according to a report by the Commission on Audit. – With a report from Arra B. Francia/Rappler.com