Fifteenth Congress
Second Regular Session

HOUSE BILLNO. 51.73

Totroduced by Honorable Roseada Ann Ocampo

EXPLANATORY NOTE

This bill secks to establish the National Geriatric Hospital which will provide
a full range of health care services, including primary care, wellness services, and
behavioral health care to the elderly population of the country.

Section 11, Article III of the 1987 Constitution provides, in part, that “The
State shall adopt an integrated and comprehensive approach to health development
which shall endeavor to make essential goods, health and other social services
available to all the people at affordable cast. There shall be priority for the needs of
the underprivileged sick, elderly, disabled, women, and children.”

Consistent with this constitutional provision, this bill aims to establish the
National Geriatric Hospital, a specialized hospital which will cater to the elderly or
senior citizens of the country. It will be the first of its kind im the country, and its
establishment long overdue with the continuing increase in our country’s population
of people aged sixty and above. The National Geriatric Hospital will ensure the
availability and accessibility of medical services for the elderly. Also, the facility
will enable our elderly population who are most vulnerable to diseases to avail of
much needed specialized health care. As a tribule to our country’s elderly citizens,
having served and contributed to the society in the prime of their life, it is only
fitting to establish a hospital which primarily provides geriatric health services.

In view of the foregoing considerations, approval of this bill is eamestly
sought.


Fifteenth Congress
Second Regular Session

HOUSE BILLNO.__ 9173

Introduced by Honorable Rosenda Ann Ocampo

AN ACT
ESTABLISHING THE NATIONAL GERIATRIC HOSPITAL,
DEFINING ITS OBJECTIVES, POWERS AND. FUNCTIONS, AND
APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR °

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

SECTION 1. Declaration of Poticy. — It is hereby declared the policy
of the State to protect and promote the right to health of the elderly by
ensuring that health services are available and accessible to them through the
establishment of a specialized hospital that will cater to their medical needs.

SEC. 2. Definition of Terms.— As used in this Act:

a) Senior citizen or elderly refers to any Filipino citizen who is at
least sixty (60) years old;

») — Geriatrics refers to the branch of medical science devoted to the

study of the biological and physical changes and the diseases of old age;


«) Geriatric health services refer to the medical services or
intervention provided by a geriatrician;

d) Geriatrician refers to a medical doctor who has passed the
necessary training and examination, and specializes in the field of geriatrics;

©) Integrated delivery of geriatric health services refer to hospital
and community-based medical and psycho-social services provided to senior
citizens by a multi-disciplinary team.

SEC. 3. National Geriatric Hospital. — The National Geriatric
Hospital (NGH), a government-owned and controlled corporation, is hereby
established for the primary benefit of senior citizens or the elderly. The NGH
shall be located in San Miguel, Manila and shall have a bed capacity of at least
fifty (50).

SEC. 4, Purposes and Objectives. — The NGH shall have the following
purposes and objectives:

a) Equip, maintain, administer and operate an integrated medical
institution which shall specialize in geriatric health services;

b) Promote medical and scientific research relative to the
prevention, diagnosis, trestment, care, rehabilitation and relief of disease of
the elderly;

©) Finance, sponsor, hold or participate in congresses, conventions,
conferences, seminars, work-shops and training programs on geriatric health

services or related fields in the Philippines or abroad;


4) Encourage and assist in the education and training of physicians,
nurses, health officers, social workers and other medical and technical
personnel in. the practical and scientific implementation of health services to
the elderly; and

©) Coordinate the various efforts and activities of other government
agencies and local government units for the purpose of achieving @ more
effective approach to the delivery of geriatric health services.

SEC. 5. Scope of Services. — Consistent with its purposes and
objectives, the NGH shall provide the following services:

a) Hospital-based services to ensure the availability of medical
facilities and equipment necessary to provide long term and palliative services
with its wards divided into the following: dementia, long term care, palliative
care, respite care, and other units as may be deemed necessary;

b) Community-based services to develop and implement
community-based program in partnership with local government units,
conduct research and external resource outsourcing to implement community-
based integrated geriatric health services, and conduct training necessary for
the social functioning of senior citizens and their families, utilizing the multi-
disciplinary team approaches;

c) Education programs to pursue excellence and the highest level of

practice in the specialized field of geriatrics and other related fields, conduct


post-graduate training and short-term courses for medical doctors and allied
medical professionals;

4) Program development and research to develop cutting edge
research and programs to combat diseases of old age and to improve health
care service for the elderly.

SEC. 6. Board of Trustees, - The NGH shall be administered by a
Board of Trustees, hereinafter referred to as the Board, to be composed of the
following:

a) Secretary of Health, as chairperson;

b) Secretary of Social Welfare and Development, as vice-
chairperson,

©) Chairperson of the Senate Committee. on Health and
Demography;

d) Chairperson of House Committee on Health;

e) Three representatives from the Federation of Senior Citizens
Association of the Philippines;

f) President of the Philippine College of Geriatric Medicine;

2g) Three representatives from the Philippine Medical Association
with expertise in the field of Geriatrics or Gerontology;

h) Two representatives from the academe with expertise in the field

of Geriatrics or Gerontology; and


Dy) Two representatives from non-government. organizations which
may be regional or national in scope, mainly providing services for senior
citizens, duly registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC),
Cooperative Development Authority (CDA), or any appropriate government
regulatory body, and with programs accredited by the Department of Social
‘Welfare and Development (DSWD), as members.

‘The appointive Members of the Board of Trustees sball be appointed
by the President of the Philippines and shall serve for a term of three years.

All members shall serve without compensation other than actual and
necessary expenses, in accordance with the existing laws, policies, and rules
and regulations on the matter, incurred either for attendance in‘meetings of the
Board or upon official business authorized by a resolution of the Board.

SEC.7. Powers and Functions. — The Board shall have the following,
powers and functions in addition to their general powers of ‘administration:

a) Formulate and adopt the by-laws, rules and regulations, policies,
guidelines and procedures consistent with law and the provisions of this Act to
govern the administration and operations of the NGH;

b) Formulate and develop programs for the enbancement of health
care services for the elderly, including the training of NGH personnel and

resident doctors;


¢) Enter into such agreements and arrangements with other medical
institutions, domestic or foreign, as may be necessary jn attaining the purposes
and objectives of the NGH;

d) Receive in trust legacies, gifts and donations or real and personal
property of all kinds and to administer the same for the benefit of the NGH, in
accordance with the directions and instructions of the donor, and in default
thereof, in such manner as the Board of Trustees may, in its discretion,
determine;

©) Receive and appropriate to the ends specified by law such sums
as may be provided by law for the support of the NGH; and

a3] Perform all such other acts and things as are or may be necessary
for of incidental to the accomplishment of the objectives of the NGH.

SEC. 8. Organizational Structure and Staffing Pattern. ~ ‘The
Board shall determine the organizational structure and staffing patlera of the
NGH subject to the evaluation by the Civil Service Commission and of the
Organization Position Classification and Compensation Bureau of the
Department of Budget and Management. The Board may reorganize said
structure, modify the staffing pattern and create or abolish divisions, sections
or units in the NGH.

SEC.9. Appointment by tlre Board. — The Board shall have the

authority to appoint, promote, transfer, remove, suspend or otherwise


discipline the officers and employees of the NGH upon the recommendation
of the Executive Director, subject to Civil Service laws, rules and regulations.

SEC. 10. Executive Director. — The NGH shall be headed by an
Executive Director wlio shall be appointed by the President of the Philippines
upon the recommendation of the Board of Trustees.

‘ The Executive Director. shall exercise the following powers and
functions:

a) Execute the policies, guidelines and programs approved by the
Board, and be responsible for the efficient discharge of management and
operational functions;

b) Submit for the consideration and approval of the Board proposed
measures, policies, guidelines and programs as may be deemed necessary or
proper for the effective implementation of the purposes and objectives of this
Act; ,

c) Direct and supervise the management, | operation and
administration of the NGH, and may delegate this power and any or some of
his administrative responsibilities and duties to the other officers of the NGH;

d) —_ Execute, on behalf of the Board, all contracts and agreements
which the latter may enter into, and to execute, accomplish and deliver any

and all documents relative to such contracts and agreements;


°) Represent the NGH in all dealings with other offices, agencies
and instrumentalities of the government, and all other persons or entities,
whether domestic or foreign and whether government or private;

f) Recommend to the Board the appointment, promotion, transfer,
dismissal, and suspension of the officers and employees of the NGH; and

g) _ Exercise such other powers and perform such duties as may be
vested or reposed by the Board.

SEC. 11. Program for Indigents. ~ The Board shall ensure that the ~
NGH shall adopt and enforce a program for indigents. The number of beds
allocated for indigent patients shall not be less than forty percent (40%) of the
total number of hospital beds.

SEC. 12. Tax Exemptions and Other Privileges. — The provision of
any general or special law to the contrary notwithstanding, all donations,
grants contributions, gifts or endowments received by the NGH pursuant
hereto, shall be exempt from income, gift and all other kinds of taxes, and
shall be further considered as allowable deductions from the gross income of
the donor, in accordance with the provisions of the National Internal Revenue
Code of 1997, as amended.

The NGH is hereby declared exempt from all income and all other
internal revenue taxes, tariff and customs duties and all other kinds of taxes,
fees, charges and assessments levied by the government and its political

subdivisions, agencies and instramentalities.


The NGH may request and receive assistance from the different
agencies, bureaus, offices or instrumentalities of the government, including
the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office and the Philippine Amusement and
Gaming Corporation in pursuit of its purposes and objectives.

SEC. 13. Annual Report. — The NGH shall submit an annual report to
the President of the Philippines, the Senate Committee on Health. and
Demography and the House Committee on Health, on its activities,
accomplishments and recommendations to better improve the delivery of
geriatric health services.

SEC. 14. Implementing Rules and Regulations, - The Secretary of
Health, in coordination with the Secretary of Social Welfare and Development
and the Secretary of Budget and Management, shall promulgate such rules and
regulations necessary for the effective implementation of this Act.

SEC. 15. Appropriations. - The amount of Two hundred fifty million
pesos (P250,000,000.00) is hereby appropriated for the initial operation and
maintenance of the NGH. Thereafter, such sum as may be necessary for the
continued operation of the NGH shall be included in the annual General
Appropriations Act.

SEC. 16.. Repeating Clause. — All laws, decrees, orders,
proclamations, rules and regulations, or parts thereof, which are inconsistent

with this Act are hereby repealed, amended, or modified accordingly.


SEC. 17. Effectivity Clause. — This Act shall take effect fifteen (15)
days after publication in the Official Gazette or in two (2) national newspapers
of general circulation.

Approved,