The Provincial Health Board passed a resolution on Monday, January 29, to merge the six inter-local health zones (ILHZ) in Negros Occidental into three sub-provincial health services in compliance with the Universal Health Care (UHC) Act, Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said.
The current six ILHZs represent the six districts of Negros Occidental, he said.
With merging, the first and second districts, third and fourth districts, and fifth and six districts will jointly have sub-provincial health services, he said.
Under new set up each sub-provincial health service will have a level 1 and 2 hospital, Lacson said.
The target is to make the Teresita L. Jalandoni Provincial Hospital in Silay City the apex hospital by raising its status to level 3, he added.
The hospitals in Cadiz, Valladolid and Kabankalan will also be raised to Level 2, he said.*