Senate Committee Chairperson Raffy Tulfo recently inspected and visited the Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) Hospital in San Fernando City, Pampanga after receiving complaints about the hospital’s poor service and handling of patients.
Tulfo was joined by the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) USec. Hans Cacdac and Hospital Administrator Dr. Dante Dator. The lawmaker said he was dismayed to see the hospital’s condition.
The hospital with 100-bed capacity has 46 and 72 employed doctors and nurses, respectively. It has a total of 200 personnel, including laboratory staff and admin staff.
Tulfo found out that during the time of his visit, the hospital was only providing in-patient care to two people, one of which is an employee of the hospital and the other even came from a faraway province.
“Kapansin-pansin din na tila ghost town ang gusali sa mga pasyente,” Tulfo said in a statement.
He also found out that the hospital’s Outpatient Department is closed during Saturday and Sunday. He was further angered upon learning from one of his staff who tried to get an appointment in the hospital’s online patient scheduling system that the next available slot for consultation is on Oct. 10.
The senator urged the officials of the hospital to fix their online portal immediately, stressing that the Outpatient Department should be opened even on weekends to accommodate more patients needing care and attention.
Tulfo was also surprised to see the condition of the Pharmacy Department because it has no shelves or drawers while the medicines were only placed on trays on the table. Tulfo added that the supply of medicines were not complete, especially the important ones like antibiotics.
The senator also noticed that the modern medical equipment of the facility appear unused. He vowed that he will provide all-out support, particularly in funding and staffing, for the welfare of OFWs and their dependents.
