TACLOBAN CITY – The provincial government still wants to operate the Ormoc District Hospital.

So says Provincial Administrator Vincent “Vince” Emnas when asked by Leyte Samar Daily Express whether the provincial government under Gov. Jericho “Icot” Petilla would give up the said district hospital to the city government of Ormoc.

Earlier, no less than the governor himself had said that he is mulling on the idea of giving up the operation of the said hospital to avoid further losses due high cost of maintaining all provincial government-owned hospital including the ODH.

Emnas said that an ad hoc team would soon conduct a study and assessment of the Ormoc District Hospital.

“The governor would be pulling out the members of an ad hoc committee earlier assigned at the Baybay District Hospital to Ormoc to some training, organizing and checking the areas where to improve the operation of the said district hospital,” Emnas told Leyte Samar Daily Express.

Last September, Gov. Petilla formed an ad hoc committee headed by Sr. Eloisa David of the St. Paul’s Hospital to conduct a study o how to stop the “financial hemorrhage” of the Baybay based Western Leyte Provincial; Hospital as well s other hospital financed by the province.

The provincial administrator told Express that with the decision of the governor that the ad hoc committee conducts a study on the Ormoc District Hospital, this could only mean that he is not giving up the said hospital.

“The thrust of the governor is to make all our hospital as revenue centers if not profitable,” Emnas said.

According to him, the provincial government is allocating P40 million for the operation and maintenance of the Ormoc District Hospital with only a very minimal of income going to the coffers of the provincial government.

He also claimed that based on their study, majority of the patients said hospital were all from Ormoc. He noted that while the provincial government has nothing against this the big number of patients coming from the city has in effect put at a disadvantage patients coming from other municipalities.

“We have nothing against the Ormocanons. But Ormoc city is not within the administrative control of the province,” he said. The city is a chartered city, which does not elect any provincial officials.

Still, the provincial administrator said that the decision of the governor to keep the hospital under control of the provincial government was his desire to help the people in the fourth district of Leyte on their health needs.

And also to solve the financial deficit being incurred by the province in the operations and maintenance of the Ormoc District Hospital, Emnas explained that the job would now fall under the ad hoc committee.

According to Emnas, they are positive that the committee could produce the same results in favor of the Ormoc District Hospital similar who what they have done to the Western Leyte Provincial Hospital in Bayabay.

Emnas revealed to Express that since the ad hoc committee supervised the management of the said 100-bed capacity hospital, there were turnaround on the finances of the said hospital.

“Before the hospital earns around P900, 000 a year. But since it is placed under the control of the ad hoc committee under Sr. David, the hospital was able to earn same amount just in two months,” said Emnas.

The provincial government had allocated more than P29 million for the operations of the said hospital, with more than half of the amount going to the salaries of its personnel.