• CHERYL G. CRUZ
More than 1,000 Bacolodnons benefited from the no-down payment scheme and healthcare services provided by partner-hospitals of the Bacolod City government under the Bacolod City Comprehensive Health Program (BacCHP).
The city said that 304 BacCHP cardholders were accommodated at the Bacolod Queen of Mercy Hospital, 284 patients at the South Bacolod General Hospital, 240 served at the Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital, 176 patients at the Riverside Medical Center Inc., and 65 patients attended to at the Bacolod Adventist Medical Center since the program kicked off in May last year.
Evaluation and assessment meetings were also held since the start of this year among partner-hospitals, BacCHP liaison officers, and program implementers for the continued healthcare service to beneficiaries.
Mayor Alfredo Benitez also recently signed a memorandum of understanding with The Doctors’ Hospital, the fifth and latest private medical institution to accommodate BacCHP cardholders.
Benitez said that under this flagship health program of his administration, accredited private hospitals will no longer ask for a down payment from BacCHP cardholders availing of services in their facilities.
Each cardholder is entitled to P15,000 that will serve as grant for health-related expenses, provided that the city funds shall be used only after exhausting PhilHealth benefits and other government healthcare grants or assistance.
The second year of BacCHP implementation has been allocated P54 million, from last year’s P50 million. | CGC
