Bionat said that the medical oxygen scams and other irregularities are just part of the can of worms in the hospital.
BY KARL G. OMBION
SPECIAL REPORT
Bulatlat
Vol. VII, No. 20, June 24-30, 2007
Dr. Benito B. Bionat, chief of clinics of CLMMRH, said that the medical oxygen scams and other irregularities are just part of the can of worms in the hospital.
This corroborates the allegation of Bryan Baylon, the hospital’s chief administrative officer, that there is a syndicate responsible for all the scams and corruption in the hospital.
This syndicate, which Baylon said is composed of suppliers and some hospital personnel, allegedly controls the operations in the property section, accounting, cashier, central supply room, all the way up to the office of the chief of the hospital.
It also allegedly controls the BAC and the BAC secretariat and therefore, all decisions pertaining to procurements and which suppliers to accommodate, reject, or negotiate with in exchange for favors, Baylon added.
He said the syndicate is well entrenched, and has been there for years already.
“The reason why they are now after my head is that I have exposed them and their operations; I am certainly a pain in their neck that is why they are out to pluck me out of the hospital,” he said.
Bionat disclosed what he described as the other “unhealthy and irregular conditions” within the CLMMRH, among them are the following:
· the hospital pharmacy is often without drugs and medicines;
· indigent patients often buy medicines and avail of laboratory services outside;
· hospital wards, operating room, comfort rooms and doctor’s quarters are dilapidated, unhealthy and hazardous;
· offices and the living quarters of the staff and medical residents are unhealthy and not conducive to personnel welfare;
· the chief resident pediatrician, Dr. Elvie Donasco, 29, died of undetermined causes and was found dead in her quarters on May 12, 2007.
He also said that hospital personnel are understaffed and overloaded despite the vacancies, allotted budget and rising income of the hospital.
“Certainly, there are more irregularities in this hospital, and I will make sure that these will all surface, and that the culprits would have to answer to the proper DoH body, and the court of justice,” Bionat said.
Bayan-Negros secretary-general Felipe Gelle said in a recent press conference that the rampant corruption in the hospital, meager budget allocation and declining quality of health services to the people have become “so depressing and deplorable.”
“Those who have been to the CLMMRH have certainly seen the sorry state of the hospital including the sore lack of basic medicines in the pharmacy and yet it sells cellcards and e-loads; the lack in beds causing patients to lie on the floor with some bringing their own folding beds; etc.,” Gelle noted.
Willy Dueno of the Alliance of Health Workers (AHW) said that the recent exposé by some top officials in the CLMMRH of the medical oxygen scams and irregular procurements and financial mismanagement are just the tip of the iceberg.
He lamented that only 10 percent of the yearly P130 million ($2.82 million) budget of CLMMRH goes to procurement of medicines, much less to workers and employees’ salaries and benefits. Most, he said, goes to questionable transactions.
“Until now, we have much to collect from the hospital – unpaid P2,000 ($43.38) productivity bonus, the balance of 50 percent in our longevity pay, night premium differential pay, medical allowance for hospitalized personnel, rooms for hospital workers, delayed and sometimes non remittance of our GSIS (Government Service Insurance System) premiums deducted from our payroll,” he added.
He also demanded an accounting of all funds donated to the hospital “just to see where it is spent and who benefits from it.”
Bayan Muna, GWP, Bacolod Rep. Monico Puentevella, and Rep. Jose Carlos Lacson of the 3rd District of Negros Occidental are among the yearly donors of funds for indigent patients to the hospital; others giving smaller amounts include former CLMMRH nurses now based in America, prominent schools and families in the city and province.
