Quezon city: The Department of Health (DOH) is looking into ways to make so-called ‘ghost’ or non-operational health centers fully functional as part of ongoing efforts to strengthen the country’s primary healthcare system.

According to Philippines News Agency, DOH Secretary Teodoro Herbosa stated in an interview that they are auditing health facilities nationwide to identify those that have been built but remain unused or underutilized due to lack of personnel, equipment, or proper accreditation. Herbosa mentioned that he is currently studying these facilities and may be able to identify specific centers by next week.

Herbosa emphasized that his intention is not to assign blame but to adopt a systems thinking approach to make these centers operational. He revealed that only 70 percent of the 600 centers built under the Health Facilities Enhancement Program are currently functional. The agreement with the DOH places the responsibility of hiring staff to run the centers on local government units (LGU).

The DOH has a national health workforce system, such as the Doctors to the Barrios program, that could be utilized to staff these centers. Herbosa mentioned the possibility of managing the health centers through DOH personnel, despite LGU ownership, with the right agreements in place. Additionally, he is considering partnerships with the private sector as another viable option to ensure the centers become functional.