The City of Parañaque gave its citizens something to look forward to in terms of their health as it offers access to a continuum of care to meet their health care needs, while protecting
them from financial hardships. The city has already reached 731,221 or close to 100 percent PhilHealth coverage of their projected population of 731,776 and strictly implemented the No Balance Billing Policy in its city-owned hospital. This entitles residents to quality health care services and financial risk protection especially at this time when costs of medical services are rapidly escalating. Currently, Parañaque has one city-owned hospital and 16 rural health units with full time doctors, nurses and midwives that cater to the health care needs of their residents.
Mayor Edwin Olivares wanted his people to experience quality health services closer to their homes through integrated care. Various groups involved in patient care have been brought together to meet their needs and ensure their over-all well-being.
The local chief executive, together with the City’s health team are regularly conducting medical and dental caravans dubbed “Serbisyo lang po,” wherein PhilHealth and other government agencies are part of. The caravan aims to provide residents with convenient access to health care services including livelihood and other social services.
“Gusto naming mangyari hindi yung tao ang lalapit sa gobyerno, gobyerno ang lalapit sa tao…regular kaming bumababa….sa lahat ng sitios, sa lahat ng lugar para ma-encourage natin sila na magpatingin. Yung kanilang health care maging sustainable, hindi yung sa medical caravan lang tapos na….every other week ginagawa namin yun.” Olivares said.
The City government has strong community-based services that play a vital role in broadening its integrated care networks that place people at the center. Their collaborative efforts and strong partnerships within and outside the community is absolutely one of the essentials that bring out healthy communities in the city.
“Regular po na nagpa-participate ang mga private hospitals pati ang mga pharmaceutical companies (sa caravan).. ang cooperation at coordination ay pinag-uusapan po ng lahat sa health board,” the Mayor explained.
Recognizing the importance of having an effective referral system as one of the building blocks of the health system, the City has taken concrete steps to strengthen its referral management system to ensure the overall quality of care to patients. This notable accomplishment makes the City Universal Health Care-ready. Parañaque City is one of the UHC Integration Sites identified by the Department of Health.
With the implementation of the UHC, the city is continuously making its health services accessible to all its residents. As of June last year, Parañaque has 17 PhilHealth accredited primary care providers, 10 dialysis centers, 13 maternity care providers, one (1) ambulatory surgical clinic, eight (8) TB DOTS providers, and two (2) private animal bite centers.
The city’s newly-built 150-bed hospital situated at the center of its second congressional district was recently inaugurated to provide residents particularly from nearby barangays and subdivisions with basic services that they can accessibly enjoy.
