Philippine Heart Center incurs P180-M deficit in 2020 as revenues nearly halved

The Philippine Heart Center (PHC) saw its bottom line fall by 133% in 2020 as its revenues were nearly halved during the year, according to a report by the Commission on Audit (COA).

Data released by the COA showed that the PHC incurred a P180.281-million deficit last year versus the P544.578-million surplus in 2019.

Revenues for the year were slashed by 49.04% to P1.600 billion from P3.140 billion in 2019, while operating expenses fell 18.78% to P3.233 billion from P3.981 billion.

The PHC is a Level 4 government-owned and controlled corporation (GOCC) specialty hospital accredited by the Department of Health (DOH) and other regulatory agencies.

As an institution, the PHC is committed to providing care for patients with heart and related ailments with a vision to be the leader in upholding the highest standards of cardiovascular care.

Its Board of Trustees is composed of nine members, with the Secretary of Health -- currently Health Secretary Francisco Duque III -- as the ex-officio Chairperson.

The hospital ended 2020 with a total of 2,056 personnel, composed of 2,034 permanent and 22 contractual employees.

State auditors flagged the variance of P26.620 million in absolute amount between book balances and results of confirmation in the accounts payable account.

In the same report, the Commission on Audit (COA) noted the "improper recording" by the PHC of the Z-Benefit Package Program of the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) under the Quantified Free Service (QFS)-Z Benefit account.

Auditors said this resulted in the overstatement of P72.196 million and understatement of P21.468 million, or a net overstatement of P50.728 million on various affected accounts as of end-2020. — DVM, GMA News