Albay: Albay Governor Noel Rosal has mandated enhanced monitoring of government hospitals and a thorough audit of medicine inventories and medical supplies throughout the province. This initiative aims to elevate healthcare services and ensure patients receive their entitled benefits.

According to Philippines News Agency, Governor Rosal emphasized the significance of collecting public feedback during his hospital visits, which he shares on his social media account. This feedback serves as a crucial component in assessing hospital performance. "We visit hospitals so we can get reactions from people and have a basis for our assessment," Rosal stated during a media briefing following Monday's flag-raising ceremony.

Governor Rosal reaffirmed the enforcement of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation's no excess billing and zero billing policies in provincial hospitals. He addressed concerns about patients being instructed to purchase medicines externally and highlighted the Provincial Drug Supply Office's role in monitoring medicine deliveries closely. To tackle this issue, the governor has ordered an early audit of hospital inventories, focusing on medicines and essential medical supplies, well ahead of the year's end.

The governor stressed the importance of maintaining sufficient stocks of commonly used medications, such as anti-tetanus vaccines, heart disease and hypertension maintenance medicines, vitamins, and essential medical supplies like syringes and intravenous fluids. "These are fast-moving items that should always be available. Those are our priorities," Rosal remarked.

Albay oversees 10 hospitals, including the Josefina Belmonte Duran Albay Provincial Hospital in Ligao City, Dr. Lorenzo P. Ziga Memorial District Hospital in Tabaco City, and several others, alongside the Albay Provincial Drug Rehabilitation and Treatment Facility in Malinao.