Marcos says creation of specialty centers part of push for universal healthcare

CLARK, Pampanga — President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. said Monday that the establishment of new healthcare centers across the country is part of the government‘s efforts to advance quality healthcare.

“I will be reporting to the nation on the progress that we have made in establishing and opening new healthcare centers around the country, but that is the product of our relentless push for universal healthcare and we will not stop until every Filipino can say they have good access to quality healthcare,” Marcos said in his speech during the inspection of the Multi-Specialty Medical Center here.

“I cannot endure the sight of seeing a fellow Filipino suffer only because of the lack of facilities in our health system,” he added.

Marcos urged the public to be part of the solution when addressing healthcare problems and “put forward innovative alternatives that you believe can help uplift the lives of our fellowmen.”

The President noted that there were sufficient lessons that need to be learned following the COVID-19 pandemic, “so that we are able to equip ourselves and prepare ourselves for any such occurrence again.“

“I cannot forget and the reason healthcare has been such an important part of this administration, not only because of the experience that we have had in the pandemic in the last two, three years; but also with the guiding understanding and idea that any person no matter how successful they are in whatever field they have been cannot enjoy the success if they do not also enjoy good health,” he said.

Health Secretary Ted Herbosa earlier said the facility would be constructed through a combination of donations and government appropriations.

Herbosa had said the facility will start as a general hospital and then eventually, it will “move up to a children’s specialty, and then a cardiac specialty, then the kidney specialty.”

During his first State of the Nation Address, Marcos emphasized the importance of specialty hospitals like the Philippine Heart Center, Philippine Lung Center, National Children’s Hospital, and National Kidney and Transplant Institute, especially amid the pandemic.

Marcos said the government has been identifying areas where specialty hospitals would be established, noting that specialty hospitals should not just be located in Metro Manila but also in provinces. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News