Sen. Raffy Tulfo has likened to a “ghost town” the OFW Hospital in San Fernando, Pampanga, with its outpatient department closed during weekends.
Tulfo, along with Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) USec. Hans Cacdac and OFW Hospital Administrator Dr. Dante Dator, conducted an inspection following complaints about the hospital’s poor services and handling of patients.
The senator said he was “disgusted” when he saw the condition of the hospital, which opened only last May 1, 2022.
While the hospital has 100 beds with 46 doctors and 72 nurses and a total of 200 personnel, including laboratory staff and administrative staff, Tulfo found out there were only two patients during his visit last July 1.
One patient is an employee of the hospital, and the other even came from a faraway province, he noted.
Tulfo was further angered on learning from one of his staff who tried to get an appointment through the hospital’s online patient scheduling system that the next available slot for consultation is on Oct. 10 – over three months from now.
This prompted the senator to recommend to the hospital’s officials to fix their online portal immediately.
Tulfo also stressed the hospital’s outpatient department should be always opened to the public.
He also saw the Pharmacy Department has no shelves or drawers and medicines were only placed on trays on a table.
Worse, he said the medicine’s supply was not complete, especially the important ones like antibiotics.
In his tour of the hospital’s departments, Tulfo noticed that the installed modern medical equipment has not been used.
Tulfo asked the hospital leadership to fix their system and work hard. He also promised that as the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Migrant Workers to provide all-out support, particularly in funding and staffing, for the welfare of OFWs and their dependents.
