The team that took over the management of the Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital is conducting a policy review that will pave the way for better services at the hospital, new hospital chief Dr. Jaime Bernadas said yesterday.

Bernadas said it is not true that billing charges at the hospital were increased as they are still reviewing the rates, after which, a recommendation will be made to the Executive Committee, which will discuss it before making its decision.

He added they can not automatically change the rates as they have to compare the existing rates at the CLMMRH with those of other regional hospitals in the country.

"As a public hospital, we are expected to charge a rate lower than the private facility," Bernadas said. Patients at the CLMMRH are also classified into categories with the Social Services department subsidizing the bill of indigents, he said.

Bernadas admitted he is not comfortable with the idea of hospital employees issuing public statements without his knowledge.

"All official statements should be issued by my office," he said.

As a matter of policy, he said, hospital issues should be discussed first with the hospital chief and not with the media.

Meanwhile, Bernadas called on all hospital employees to cooperate with the new policies being implemented at the CLMMRH.

Among these he said is the one patient-one watcher policy that will address the overcrowding problem at the hospital.

Another policy he is implementing, Bernadas said, will regulate the traffic inside the ward, emergency room, and the out-patient department and to restrict the use of the ER only to emergency cases.

The new hospital chief also banned the presence of vendors inside the hospital. These policy changes are aimed to improve the hospital services at the hospital, he said.*NAB

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