BACOLOD CITY — The Negros Healthcare Management Services Inc. (NHMSI), operator of Bacolod Our Lady of Mercy Specialty Hospital (BOLMSH), has asked the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) to reconsider the denial of its accreditation for 2018.
The motion for reconsideration, copies of which were provided to the media, was submitted by the hospital’s lawyer Rafael Ocampo Jr. to PhilHealth-Western Visayas legal counsel Dennis Guevara, in the presence of Mayor Evelio Leonardia, following a press conference at the Bacolod City Government Center on Monday afternoon.
In the plea, Ocampo asked the PhilHealth to reconsider and set aside the denial of NHMSI’s re-accreditation and to issue a new order approving the hospital’s accreditation until December 31, 2018.
He also asked to release the PhilHealth claims of the hospital’s clients from March to June this year.
It was the second time officials of the hospital led by Dr. Nestor Amante, president and chief executive officer of BOLMSH, and of PhilHealth Region 6 met with Leonardia after the mayor called both parties for a meeting last Friday.
The meeting came after the hospital management confirmed last week its scheduled closure by the end of the month due to lack of accreditation.
After the mayor intervened, the BOLMSH decided to delay its shutdown to July 30.
The PhilHealth-Western Visayas Regional Office, represented during the first meeting by vice president Lourdes Diocson, has committed to request the Accreditation Sub Committee to expedite the deliberation of the denied accreditation papers of the BOLMSH within 30 days, should the hospital file for a motion for reconsideration.
“There’s no sense for us to open if we are not accredited,” Amante said, pointing out that the PhilHealth claims are a substantial part of their financial operations.
Amante, however, said even if the PhilHealth will grant their plea, the management will still proceed with the closure once their lease contract expires by the end of the year.
He said it’s purely a business decision.
On June 18, the BOLMSH management received a letter from PhilHealth in Western Visayas, informing them that the hospital’s application for continuous accreditation has been denied due to “conviction of fraudulent acts” committed years before by the previous management, Tiong Bi Inc.
With this development, the PhilHealth has stopped releasing the claims of the hospital from March to June, prompting the management to announce its closure by June 30. (Nanette Guadalquiver/PNA)
