LGU bureaucracy delaying SRA release, says hospitals group

Some private hospitals are complaining about the involvement of local government units in the release of special risk allowances (SRAs) to frontline health workers, a hospital group official said Friday.

Interviewed on GMA News’ Unang Balita, Private Hospitals Association of the Philippines Inc. (PHAPi) president Dr. Jose Rene De Grano said the LGUs' processes are causing delay in the release of funds to hospitals.

"Dumadaan pa sa local government units… kapag dumaan sa mga LGUs, may mga bureaucratic processes po sila. Nade-delay po nang matagal bago mapamahagi sa ating private hospitals,” he said.

(The SRAs pass through LGUs where they undergo bureaucratic processes. The release then gets delayed.)

De Grano pointed out that the SRA funds should be directly given by the Department of Health to private hospitals.

The PHAPi president made the statement as he shared that some of their hospitals already started receiving SRA funds.

On Wednesday, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) announced that it has released P311.79 million for the long overdue SRAs of health workers.

In a separate interview on Unang Balita, Dr. Ted Herbosa, an adviser to the National Task Force (NTF) Against COVID-19, said DOH regional offices can now release the SRA of health workers to hospitals.

DOH Secretary Francisco Duque III said earlier this week that the SRA and compensation for health workers will be distributed until Aug. 31.

This was after President Rodrigo Duterte directed the DOH and DBM to render the allowances and other COVID-19 benefits for medical workers within 10 days. —KBK, GMA News