With the Bacolod Our Lady of Mercy Specialty Hospital facing closure at the end of the month after their accreditation with the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) was suspended, the government healthcare provider recently informed Bacolod City Mayor Evelio Leonardia the hospital’s appeal is currently under evaluation.

Last month, following a meeting between the Bacolod City government, hospital officials, and PhilHealth, a pending resolution was drafted. Without much information disclosed regarding details of the agreement, Dr. Nestor Amante, president of the Negros Healthcare Management Systems, Inc., which currently manages the hospital, called it a “win-win solution.”

According to earlier reports, PhilHealth-Western Visayas said the hospital’s application for accreditation as a Level 2 provider was denied due to fraudulent acts. However, following the said meeting, PhilHealth legal counsel, Atty. Dennis Guevara, confirmed the said activities were committed in 2014, under the hospital’s former owner, Tiong Bi, Inc.

Last year, a congressional hearing of the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability revealed some hospital physicians allegedly collected excessive amounts in PhilHealth claims for unnecessary procedures, with the Our Lady of Mercy Hospital named as one of the involved hospitals.

According to a PTV report, doctors at the said hospital allegedly recommended patients undergo cataract surgery even if it was not necessary./WDJ