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Republic of the Philippines K N

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES RECE ‘VED ‘ in
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Quezon City

SEVENTEENTH (17"") CONGRESS
First Regular Session

HOUSE BILLNO.3'7.28 |

Introduced by Hon, Tricia Nicole Q. Velasco - Catera

EXPLANATORY NOTE

Disasters can strike anywhere and at anytime destroying everything in its path. For
instance, the wrath of typhoon Yolanda did not spare even the hospitals in the arcas it struck,
vwiliich mene sayapesed to be among the last refuges for shelter especially for the injured victims.

‘This caught the government and other supporting organizations scrambling to put up
temporary healthcare facilities to attend to the medical needs of several thousands of victims.
While typhoons of such magnitude as Yolanda rarely occur, more storms and natural disasters
are predicted to hit our shores again, and once more cause considerable devastation. The
necessity for the government to create and develop a fleet of mobile hospitals which can quickly
be deployed wherever and whenever a makeshift medical facility is needed is being highlighted

during these times.

The creation of a fleet of mobile hospitals that offers specialized services and can be
readily mobilized in times of disaster or be deployed in areas where there are no adequate
medical facilities is highly in order.

This bill proposes the creation and institutionalization of an emergeney mobile hospital to
be known as the Philippine Mobile Hospital that will function mainly as an emergency
healthcare facility during natural disasters. During normal times, it shall also serve as a roving
mobile hospital in areas with no hospitals or adequate hospital services.

The end goal of this bill, however, shall be to ultimately provide each region of our
country with a number of mobile hospitals which shall move around provinces to augment
existing medical facilities in remote and underserved areas throughout the country.

In view of the foregoing consideration, the approval of this bill is strongly recommended.

TRICIA NICOLE Q. VELASCO - CATERA


Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

SEVENTEENTH (17'™) CONGRESS
First Regular Session
796

HOUSE BILL NO. 37226

Introduced by Hon. Tricia Nicole Q. Velasco - Catera

AN ACT CREATING THE PHILIPPINE MOBILE HOSPITAL, DEFINING ITS
PURPOSES AND OBJECTIVES, APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR, AND FOR
OTHER PURPOSES

Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress
assembled:

SECTION 1. Short Title — This act shall be known as the “Philippine Mobile Hospital Act
of 2016".

SEC. 2. Establishment of the Philippine Mobile Hospital. — There shall be established,
under the direct supervision of the Department of Health, a mobile hospital to be known as the
Phalippine Motile Hospital, hereinafter referred to as PMH.

SEC. 3. Purposes and Objectives. - The PMH shall have the following purposes and
ject

(@) Toestablish, operate, manage and maintain mobile and transportable hospitals
will primarily provide free in-patient and out-patient medical services and
medicines to residents in areas affected by natural and man-made disasters,

(b) To strengthen the Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management System by
providing emergency services and public assistance during and immediately after a
disaster in order to save lives, reduce health impact, ensure public safety, and meet
the basic subsistence needs of the people affected;

(©) To complement the country’s existing medical infrastructure by providing roving
hospitals to areas with no hospitals or adequate hospital services; and


@) To provide: the genesall public tinoughout tie country: witin azcessifble: and! modienm

facilities for domiciliary health and medical services.

SEC. 4, Mobile Hospital Board; Composition; Term and Compensation. — To carry
out the purpose and objectives enumerated in Section Three of this Act, there is hereby created
the governing board of the PMH which shall be known as the Mobile Hospital Board, hereinafter
referred to as the Board. It shall be composed of the Department of Health (DOH) Secretary as
ex-officio Chairman; the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary as ex-
officio Vice-Chairman; and the Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary as ex-officio
Vico-chainman, cespectively, and four (4) members coming from the private sector. Three (3) of
the four (4) members shall be physicians, two (2) of whom shall be medical specialists while the
other shall be a government recognized hospital administrator. The remaining member shall be a
person of known probity in the community and is active in civic and community work.

‘The members of the Board shall be appointed by the President of the Philippines and
shall receive mo salary. The members of the Board shall be entitled to a per diem for every
meeting actually attended subject to pertinent budget laws, rules and regulations on
compensation, honoraria, and allowances. Members of the Board who are not officers of the
Government shall serve for a term of four (4) years renewable for another term only.

‘The Board Secretary shall be appointed by the Chairman from the ranking members of
the hospital staff.
SEC. 5. Powers and Functions of the Board. — The Board is hereby vested with the

following powers and functions:

(a) To formulate policies, develop programs, and promulgate rules and regulations to
carry out the purposes and objectives, as well as the powers and functions, of the
PMH;

{b) To study, propose and approve plans for the improvement of the services of the
Poa

(©) To propose, study and approve or, amend or revise the organizational structure of

the PMH, both medical and administrative, in order to meet the exigencies of the
, subject to existing laws and regulations on the matter and consonant with
the principles of sound hospital administration;

(d@) To consider and approve appointments and promotions of all staff personnel,
medical and administrative, and other employees upon the recommendation of the

Hospital Director;


(©) To investigate all cases of anomalies, negligence or misconduct of all hospital
personnel including the Mobile Hospital Director. It shall have the final authority to
pass upon the removal, separation, and suspension of such personnel subject to
Civil Service Rules and Regulations;

() To perform an annual internal audit of the operations of the PMH;

(g) To receive in trust, legacies, gifts, land grants and donations of real and personal
property of all kinds, and to administer the same for the benefit of the mobile
hospital or a department of service thereof

{b) To consider and approve the budget prepared by the mobile hospital administration
for submission to the Congress of the Philippines through the Department of
Budget and Management; and

(i) To discharge such other powers, duties and functions as may be deemed necessary
to carry out the provisions of this Act.

SEC. 6. Meeting of the Board; Quorum. — The Board shall meet regularly once a
month, but special meetings may be called cither by the Chairman or by a majority of the Board,
when necessary..A majority of the members shall constitute a quorum. All decisions of the Board
shall require the concurrence of a majority of the members present.

SEC. 7. Board Chairman; Vice-Chairman. — The Chairman shall call and preside over
all meetings of the Board. He shall sign all papers for the Board and shall certify to all its
transactions.

In the absence or the incapacity of the Chairman, the members of the Board shall elect
from among themselves a temporary chairman who shall act as Chairman thereof.

SEC. 8. The Mobile Hospital Director. — There shall be a Mobile Hospital Director,
elected by a majority vote of the Board: Provided, that the recommendee is qualified under Civil
Service laws, rules and regulations, The Mobile Hospital Director shall serve until otherwise
incapacitated or removed for cause and shall receive an annual salary equivalent to that of Chief
of Hospital IV under the Salary Plan of the Wage and Position Classification Office. He shall
have charge of the mobile hospital and shall have the powers in respect to the mobile hospital as
are vested by law in chiefs of hospitals.

Specifically, the Mobile Hospital Director shall:

(a) Be responsible for the implementation of all policies, decisions and orders of the
Bound:


(6) Have immediate supervision and control over the affairs of the PMH as well as its
‘management and administration, subject to the authority of the Board;

(©) Subject to the approval of the Board, prepare plans for a mobile hospital residency
program in the fields of medicine, surgery, pediatrics, ophthalmology, obstetrics
and gynecology, eye-car-nose and throat, laboratory, radiology, and training
program in nursing and allied fields;

(@) Prepare and submit to the Board periodic reports on the state of affairs, financial
conditions, budgetary requirements and other problems of the mobile hospital
together with the corresponding recommendations thercon; and

‘ (©) Perform such other duties as the Board may from time to time direct him to do,
consonant with the dignity and responsibility of the office.

SEC. 9. Auditor. - The Commission on Audit shall appoint, subject to the approval of the
Board, a representative who shall be the Auditor of the PMH and such personnel as may be
mecessary to assist said representative in the performance of his duties.

‘The Amifiuor shall be the chief of its auditing and accounting department. He shall audit,
examine and settle all accounts of the PMH according to existing laws and regulations and shall
perform such other duties as the Commission on Audit, Mobile Hospital Director or the Board
may require him. His compensation shall be fixed by the Board.

SEC 10. Ser-up and Organization. — The PMH shall be composed of mobile and
transportable hospitals equipped to act at, the very least, as Level Two (2) hospitals with added
specialized services.

‘The mobile and transportable hospitals shall contain operating rooms for major and minor
surgeries, multispecialty clinics (ie., Ophthalmology, ENT Medicine, Pediatrics, Obstetrics
Gynecology), diagnostic laboratory facilities, a pharmacy, as well as sufficient and modern on-
site and off-site administrative, operational and technical support facilities.

The organization of the PMH shall include such departments and services as the Board
may deem essential to carry on with the objectives of this Act but shall in no case be contrary to
the basic onganizational plans prescribed by the Bureau of Health Facilities and Services of the
‘Department of Health, nor with principles of sound hospital administration.

SEC. 11. Heads of Departments and Services; Compensation. — ‘The heads of
departments and services as well as medical consultants and specialists shall be appointed by the
Boand upon recommendation of the Mobile Hospital Director. Theit compensations shall be
prescribed by the Board but the same shall in no case be less than provided for under existing
laws and regulations. All other personnel and employces of the PMH shall be appointed by the
Mobile Hospital Director subject to the approval of the Board.


SEC. 12. Mobile Hospital Trust Fund. — All funds and money not coming from the
general fond of the National Government such as contributions from taxes and assessments from
authorized sweepstakes lotteries and games, donations, legacies, endowment, income of the pay
wards and other mobile hospital services shall be used and disbursed only upon the authorization
of the Board for the purpose of improving the mobile hospital, its facilities and services,
inchading the purchase of medicines, supplies and equipment.

SEC. 13. Assistance from government offices, etc. - ‘The PMH may call upon any
department, bureau, office, agency or instrumentality of the Government, including government-
owned or controlled corporations, for such assistance as it may need in the pursuit of its purposes
and objectives.

All individuals, entities and institutions are hereby enjoined to render full assistance and
corporation to the PMH in the accomplishment of its objectives and activities.

SEC. 14. Report to Congress. - The Department of Health shall report to Congress, not
later than March 30 of every year following the approval of this Act, the accomplishments,
operations and progress of the PMH and make the necessary recommendations, especially in
connection with the expansion of the program.

SEC. 15. Establishment of Regional Mobile Hospitals. — In pursuance of its objective to
provide access to medical facilities offering quality specialized services to each and every
Filipino wherever he may be in the country, the PMH shall endeavor to establish and operate as
many mobile hospitals as practicable, with at least one (1) in every region in the country.

SEC. 16. Appropriations. — The sum of One Hundred Twenty Million Pesos
(P120,000,000.00) initially is hereby appropriated to carry out the purposes of this Act.
Thereafter, such sums of money as may be required to operate and maintain the PMH, based
upon the recommendation of the Board, shall be included in the annual General Appropriations
Act.

SEC. 17. Separability Clause. - If any provision or section of this Act is held invalid or
unconstitutional, such invalidity or unconstitutionality shall not affect the other provisions or
sections of this Act.

SEC. 18, Repealing Clause. — All laws, ordinances, regulations and orders or parts
thereof as may be inconsistent herewith are hereby repealed, amended or modified accordingly.

SE

©. 19, Bffectivity: — This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

Approved.