SAYING that Quezon City has 330,000 senior citizens, Rep. Alfred Vargas is pushing for the construction of a hospital devoted just for the elderly in Novaliches, District 5.
While the city government has already implemented measures to provide quality health services for the senior citizens, Vargas said more steps may be taken to ensure the elderly are provided with the needed medical attention.
“Quezon City is home to over 330,000 senior citizens of the country. At present, the local government has mandated the city’s 15 public hospitals to set up a ward exclusively for the elderly so they won’t be inconvenienced being crammed with other sick patients. But more needs to be done,” he added.
He filed House Bill 6276, citing the right of every citizen to health as provided in Article XIII Section 7 of the 1987 Constitution.
“The State shall adopt an integrated and comprehensive approach to health development which shall endeavor to make essential goods, health and other social services available to all the people at affordable cost. It is therefore a policy of the State to make quality health services accessible to everyone, especially to the underprivileged senior citizens,” he said.
Under the proposal, a senior citizens hospital in Novaliches shall be established under the Department of Health’s supervision.
If passed, the measure would require a 50-bed-capacity facility to be known as the Novaliches Senior Citizens Hospital.
The medical facility shall provide professional medical services with particular concentration on diseases and health problems of the elderly, regular counseling and therapy for the total recovery of elder-patients.