Cordillera LGUs set up health networks

By Liza Agoot

BAGUIO CITY – Ninety percent of local government units (LGUs) in the Cordillera Administrative Region have set up their health care provider network (HCPN), deemed essential in the full implementation of the Universal Health Care (UHC) Law, the regional Department of Health (DOH) office reported Wednesday.

     “Nearly all provincial, municipal, and city governments in the region have established their HCPN with Baguio, Benguet, Ifugao, Mountain Province already having their formal agreements with the health care providers,” Dr. Rio Magpantay, DOH-CAR regional director, said in a press briefing here Wednesday.

    HCPN is an essential component of the health care system as it is expected to improve patient navigation and referral system, streamlining provisions of health services, according to Magpantay.

    It is composed of public or private secondary and tertiary health care providers offering people-centered comprehensive care in an integrated and coordinated manner, with the primary health care provider acting as navigator and coordinator of health care within the network.

    “It will lead to a quality of care through collaboration and sharing of good practices if they are working together as one,” Magpantay said.

    He said that through the HCPN, the healthcare providers’ readiness in terms of equipment, infrastructure and human resources will be assessed.

    “The LGUs have committed as integration sites for UHC, which entails them to upgrade their local health systems into province or city-wide health systems,” he added.

    In the implementation of UHC, the rural health units and primary care providers in villages will be strengthened, allowing them to cater to the basic health needs of the public without the need to proceed to apex hospitals. --PNA