Arroyo seeks P300M for Teachers’ Hospital, teachers’ wards

Former President and now Deputy Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has proposed the establishment of a hospital dedicated to teachers and their dependents.

The Pampanga congresswoman's House Bill 2967 seeks the allocation of P300 million from the national budget for the construction of a teacher’s hospital in Metro Manila.

The hospital will be the primary medical facility for the hospitalization and medical care of teachers and members of their family.

For teachers outside Metro Manila, the measure mandates the establishment of a teacher’s ward with an initial capacity of at least 50 beds in all regional hospitals.

Those who could avail themselves of the hospital’s services include teachers employed by public and private educational institutions, instructors, administrative support employees, physicians, dentists and nurses, as well as officials of the Department of Education and Commission on Higher Education.

College graduates with a degree in education who have passed the government examination for teachers but who have yet to find employment could also seek treatment at the teacher’s hospital.

Teachers’ dependents shall refer to their legitimate spouse dependent upon them for support; their legitimate, illegitimate, or legally adopted children, not more than 21 years (21) years old, unmarried, not gainfully employed, chiefly dependent upon and living with them or are over the age of majority but incapacitated and incapable of self-support due to a mental or physical defect; and their parents dependent upon them for support.

The Philippine Teachers’ Hospital will be administered by a Board of Directors to be headed by the Secretaries of Education and Health as ex-officio Chairmen with the Secretary of Social Welfare and Development and Chairman of the Commission on Higher Education as ex-officio members.

Other members of the board will be representatives from the teachers sector, each from Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.

The three representatives from the teachers sectors shall be appointed by the President of the Philippines from list of nominees prepared by the ex-officio Chairman to serve for a term of three years without reappointment.

In seeking the bill’s passage, Arroyo said it was generally accepted that teachers were exposed to work-related health risks such as pharyngitis, hypertension, anemia, and hyperacidity, among others.

As such, she said teachers should be provided with health facilities that would cater to their needs.

“It is the hope of the author that such hospital can provide comprehensive health care services to all teachers and their dependents and complement the existing package of services under the National Health Insurance Program,” Arroyo said. —NB, GMA News