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MANILA — Voting 257-0, the House of Representatives has approved on third and final reading House
Bill 7751 or the proposed "Department of Health Specialty Centers Act," which establishes specialty
health care centers in select hospitals in all regions of the country depending on the prevalence and burden
of diseases.

In a press release, Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez, one of the principal authors of House Bill
(HB) No. 7751, said the establishment of these facilities “would make specialized health care accessible to
our people in the provinces, especially the poor.”

“We have specialty hospitals built during the time of the father of President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos
Jr., President Ferdinand Marcos Sr., but all of these are in Quezon City. So our people in the regions and in
Visayas and Mindanao who need the services of these health facilities will have to travel all the way to
Quezon City to avail of their services,” Romualdez said said.

Romualdez was referring to the Philippine Heart Center, National Kidney and Transplant Institute, Lung
Center of the Philippines, and Philippine Children’s Medical Center, located not far from each other on
East Avenue and Quezon Avenue. There is also the Philippine Orthopedic Hospital in Banawe, also in
Quezon City.

“So we need more specialty centers, not necessarily rising to the level of a hospital, like those in Quezon
City to treat and care for our people requiring specialised health care in the provinces,” he said.

House Bill 7751 mandates the DOH to establish these centers in select hospitals under its supervision and
control, with At least one center shall be put in place in every region within five years from the time the
bill becomes law.

The existing specialty hospitals in Quezon City are mandates to help in the establishment of specialty
centers in the regions and in the development of protocols and standards.

Previously, House Committee on Health, Batanes Rep. Ciriaco Gato Jr sponsored the bill for plenary
deliberations prior to approval.

"This proposed legislation, Your Honors, is in furtherance of fulfilling our mandate to provide universal
health care by ensuring the availability and accessibility of critical healthcare facilities and services for our
countrymen who are afflicted with and are susceptible to the major burden of diseases across the country,"
Gato said.