The Silliman University Medical Center Foundation Inc. (SUMCFI) on Wednesday, April 2, assured the public that the suspension of the government’s Medical Assistance to Indigent and Financially Incapacitated Patients (MAIFIP) program is temporary.
SUMCFI president Fredita Tan and officer-in-charge vice president for financial services Charmaine Concepcion said during a press conference that the MAIFIP has to be suspended effective April 1 to avoid compromising the hospital’s operations amid the Department of Health’s (DOH) outstanding debt.
“We have already written and talked to the DOH Region 7 (Central Visayas) who assured us that in about two weeks’ time, we will receive the payment from them as the money is ready for downloading,” Tan said.
Concepcion declined to disclose the amount payable to SUMC but said “it is by the millions of pesos.”
She added that DOH-7 will be paying at least 30 percent of the total amount owed, which hopefully could cover the hospital’s operations and allow it to pay its suppliers.
The SUMC last received payment from DOH-7 for the MAIFIP in February but it was “not enough” to cover the total accounts payable, according to Concepcion.
Tan noted that SUMC is the only Level 3 hospital in Negros Oriental and has huge operational requirements for the health services and other medical care it offers. It is so far the only hospital in the province to suspend MAIFIP coverage.
For affected patients, Tan noted other sources of government assistance for hospitalization, and medical and healthcare services, such as those from the Department of Social Welfare and Development.
The suspension of the MAIFIP only covers patients admitted starting April 1, she said.
Patients who were admitted in March and the previous months who were already discharged or still in the hospital will still be covered by the MAIFIP, Tan added.*PNA