Photo Credit: http://www.vrpmc.com.ph/
My sister was admitted to this hospital on June 10th 2009 with abdominal pains. She was admitted and assigned 3 doctors: An OBGYN, A SURGEON and her ATTENDING PHYSICIAN. They required to do ultra sound, whole abdominal ultra sound and when the results came out inconclusive, they required a CT SCAN.
I readily consented thinking that they knew what was best for my sister. So they did the CT SCAN WITH ABSTRACT. But then after that, they asked for another PLAIN CT SCAN. Now, shouldn’t a Php16,000.00 CT SCAN with abstract have been more conclusive than the PLAIN CT SCAN of Php8,000.00?
Still, I did not question these doctors, as I had decided to give them my TRUST that they knew what they were doing.
They then informed me that my sister might have to undergo surgery. By Saturday morning however, they still could not give me a definite diagnosis for my sister’s condition. Sunday afternoon, Dr. Novoa, the surgeon assigned to my sister's case cleared her saying she did not need a surgery after all.
I asked my cousin to get the bill (I could not go as often as I could to the hospital because I work a night shift; my sister has no job) , and was ASTOUNDED at the accumulated charges. By Sunday, June 14 her bill was running a whooping P80,000.00, exclusive of doctor’s fee. That would have been equivalent to a full caesarian section operation at MAKATI MED.
Needless to say, I almost fainted. My sister did not even have surgery. How could her bill reach such amount? Now you can understand why I wanted to get my sister out of the hospital as soon as possible. WE ARE NOT RICH. And though my sister and I both have health cards, the cards would only pay a certain fixed amount and not the total bill.
Photo Credit: http://www.vrpmc.com.ph/
Today is June 17th. Seven days since being admitted, my sister is still at the hospital, still undiagnosed, with a staggering hospital bill of Php120,000.00, exclusive of doctor’s fee. Why??? Because her attending physician, a certain Dr J. Roxas, could not sign her release form. When I asked the hospital staff about her, they claimed that her mother died and she couldn't come to work because she is attending to that at the moment. I understand that and I feel for her, but shouldn’t she have endorsed her patients to the next available doctor? What if there was an emergency, what if she was on leave for a whole month - would my sister have to be stuck in this hospital for an entire month, all the while her bills keep mounting???
To VRPMC, is this what you mean by “the hospital that cares?” You might want to take a good second look at your mission statement and explain it thoroughly to your attending doctors and your staff.
