UST HOSPITAL (USTH) on Tuesday apologized to state-run Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) after the hospital claimed that P180 million in unpaid reimbursements were partly to blame for its financial losses.
In the letter to PhilHealth dated May 5, hospital medical director Dr. Marcellus Francis Ramirez said he only wanted to “emphasize the financial challenges” that led the hospital to retrench non-crucial employees.
“[T]here was no intention on our part to put your corporation on the spot. The hospital statement was a reply to repeated questions of the Varsitarian regarding manpower reduction strategies which involved certain employees,” the letter read.
“Unfortunately, [the news publication hyped] the Philhealth reimbursements. Obviously, this has been blown out of proportion,” it said.
Ramirez himself told the Varsitarian on May 2 that Philhealth owed the hospital “more than P180 million and counting.” His statement was published on the Varsitarian website in full.
PhilHealth President Ricardo Morales replied that his agency did not owe anything to UST Hospital, and told hospital officials to check their accounting records.
Ramirez told PhilHealth that UST Hospital was continuously reconciling its data with that of the state health insurer.
He also acknowledged receipt of PhilHealth’s advanced reimbursement of nearly P86 million.
On Monday, the head of the Filipino Dominicans suspended the order terminating non-crucial UST Hospital employees, and said this would be subject to review by the board of trustees on May 20.
