After the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) clarified their earlier statement on permitting hospitals to admit patients beyond bed capacity, with PhilHealth President Ricardo Morales saying the ongoing national dengue epidemic justifies such actions, Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson yesterday called it “good news.”
Based on data gathered by the provincial government from January to July, there were a total of 1,884 dengue patients admitted at the province’s 11 hospitals across Negros Occidental. Meanwhile, there was also an additional 547 who received outpatient care.
The governor said he recently met with health officials to remind them that dengue fever remains prevalent and requires cooperation from the community.
“There’s no question that local government units are now on heightened alert trying to minimize the number of cases,” he insisted./DGB, WDJ