MALASIQUI: Indigent Pangasinenses will benefit from the total of PHP55.4 million grant given to the 14 provincial government-run hospitals through the Department of Health’s (DOH) Medical Assistance for Indigent and Financially Incapacitated Patients (MAIFIP) program.

The funding came from the Office of Senator Christopher Lawrence Go and will be given to the Asingan Community Hospital, Bayambang District Hospital, Bolinao Community Hospital, Dasol Community Hospital, Eastern Pangasinan District Hospital, Lingayen District Hospital, Manaoag Community Hospital, Mangatarem District Hospital, Mapandan Community Hospital, Pangasinan Provincial Hospital, Pozorrubio Community Hospital, Umingan Community Hospital, Urdaneta District Hospital, and Western Pangasinan District Hospital, which receive PHP3.96 million grant each.

Pangasinan Governor Ramon Guico III, in a statement on Wednesday, thanked the senator and the DOH for the financing.

He will soon sign a memorandum of agreement with the DOH-Ilocos Region for
the implementation of the medical assistance program, supported by the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (provincial council) members during their Monday session.

The financial aid program provides financial support to indigent and poor patients seeking medical examination, consultation, treatment, and rehabilitation and those confined in government hospitals.

Aside from indigent patients, DOH, under Administrative Order No. 2020-0060, said ‘a patient who is not classified as indigent but demonstrates the inability to pay or spend for necessary expenditures for one’s medical treatment’ may apply for the financial aid.

Source: Philippines News Agency