USTH tug-of-war

BLURBAL THRUSTS

Louie Logarta

05/17/2007

The University of Santo Tomas (UST) community and its numerous beneficiaries have every reason to laud the modernization of the UST Hospital (USTH), one of the country’s premier teaching and health care institutions, as well as the appointment of its current board of trustees, both of which were approved by the master of the Dominican Order in Rome and the father provincial and the rector magnificus here in the Philippines.

This was done so that USTH might cater to its ever growing number of patients, especially those who cannot afford to pay for their needed hospitalization, and also for it to keep abreast with the latest technological advances in the medical world.

Reforms and upgrading of the hospital took off in 2005 after it was spun off from the UST into an autonomous unit and transformed into a non-stock, non-profit corporation with its own juridical personality and governance. This was, of course, approved by the UST board of trustees, the highest policy-making body in accordance with its general statutes.

Later this year, the USTH will be inaugurating its brand-new P3-billion medical tower which will be stocked with state-of-the-art medical equipment, including new clinic space for 1,000 doctors (!) and a wing specially catering to overseas patients.

UST Rector Fr. Ernesto Arceo, O.P., had given assurances that while the USTH will ultimately become a full-fledged medical center, it will continue to retain its original character of being a teaching institution devoted to the development of home-grown doctors.

It is quite unfortunate, however, that certain detractors are trying to put a negative spin to this splendid development by trying to derive a wedge between the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery and the new USTH. But it was pointed out that there should really be no quarrel between the two since the UST Faculty of Medicine and Surgery was only entrusted in the past to manage and operate the hospital.

The imprimatur of the Dominican bosses in Rome has for all intents and purposes already put closure to the issue, but certain UST priests who were disenfranchised and removed as hospital officials with juicy perks are still persisting with their vitriolic attacks on the university leadership, as if it would get them anywhere. But there is utterly no sympathy for their cause since they were canned due to mismanagement, corruption and neglect.

In a bid to counter the downward spiral of the finances of the USTH, the UST board of trustees decided in 2005 to incorporate the hospital to make it an autonomous entity. In effect, UST retains full ownership of USTH since all of the incorporators are merely their nominees or trustees.

Since it was spun off as a separate corporate entity, the USTH has been able to institute critical financial reforms that have improved the revenues, which in turn enabled it to accept more patients to the charity ward. Currently, the average occupancy rate of the charity ward is 65 percent, the highest level in the last 15 years.

It has become apparent that the persons behind the lies and misinformation against the UST brass are those who, after several decades of mismanagement, had been stripped of power to pave the way for a new generation of idealistic, young and competent doctors whose only desire is to help their hospital, one of the biggest in the country today, contribute the best it can to society.

Secretary Gabriel Claudio, Mrs. Arroyo’s chief political adviser, is perturbed over the results of the unofficial quick counts aired incessantly by the nation’s two big television networks for two successive days after the elections because they showed Team Unity (TU) candidates trailing badly, with seven Genuine Opposition (GO) candidates, four administration bets and one independent making it to the “Magic 12.”

According to Claudio, the quick count tallies being presented by ABS-CBN and GMA 7, together with their respective partners STI and AMA computer schools, were completely unacceptable to Malacañang because they portrayed the TU guys being “clobbered” at the polls, when the inputs were culled mainly from identified opposition bailiwicks in the National Capital Region and completely ignored the administration strongholds in the Visayas and Mindanao.

Now, let us view this from the converse angle. Would Secretary Claudio have ranted and raved against the quick counts carried out by the two giant stations had the senatorial tally showed his boys on the long end of the straw? The answer would have been “no” of course.

If Secretary Claudio sincerely believes deep down inside of him that the TU candidates, the majority of whom are flawed, really triumphed against the GO, maybe it would be a good idea for him to just roll with the initial punches until the election tallies from administration vote mines such as Cebu, ARMM, Ilocos Sur, Misamis Occidental, Leyte and Bohol come in to the Comelec where they can work some magic, and then maybe he’ll have the last laugh. Because as it is right now, he really looks pathetic with the way he is crying like some brat over something over whom he has totally no control.

What is compounding his woes is the fact that the two nino bonitos of Mrs. Arroyo, Prosperous Pichay and Mike Defensor, are so far behind in the count, so far, and will have to make some really giant strides before they can be part of the winning circle.

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