Rep. Erico Aristotle Aumentado (Bohol, 2nd District) has inserted P46 million in the 2016 General Appropriations Act (GAA) for the expansion of the Don Emilio del Valle Memorial Hospital (DEDVMH) in Ubay town.
Aumentado said the move aims to accommodate more patients who have recently been filling up the rooms, out-patient department (OPD), hallways, audio-visual hall and practically all spaces in the hospital.
These patients, he explained, come not only from the 2nd District, but from the 1st and 3rd Districts as well.
Aumentado said indigent patients all over the province are attracted to the hospital’s zero billing upon discharge policy because they enrolled in the Philippine Health Insurance Corp.’s (PhilHealth) expanded enrolment program and the covering of any balance with a trust fund from the Department of Health (DoH) deposited by the solon with the hospital for the purpose.
In a parallel move, the solon filed a bill seeking to increase the hospital’s bed capacity from the existing 50 to 200 – even 250.  (June S. Blanco)