Due to alleged MOA violations
TACLOBAN CITY — The Ormoc City government has ordered the Ormoc Maternity and Children’s Hospital to cease operations, citing alleged violations of its agreement with the local government, including failure to provide services to indigent patients and non-compliance with reporting requirements.
In a statement, Mayor Lucy Torres Gomez said the city acted after determining that the hospital failed to honor provisions of its memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the local government unit (LGU).
Under the agreement, the hospital was required to operate as a civic and charitable institution serving indigent mothers and children of Ormoc. In return, the city leased to the hospital the property it occupies for a nominal fee of P1,000 per month.
Gomez said the hospital allegedly functioned largely as a private business and did not adequately extend free or subsidized services to indigent patients, as required under the MOA. She added that hospital personnel admitted to charging patients and actively collecting unpaid balances, including visiting barangays to seek payment.
The mayor said the city government had asked the hospital to submit documents proving compliance with the agreement, including its criteria for determining indigency, a list of benefits granted to indigent patients beyond government subsidies, and other relevant records.
However, she said the hospital instead submitted admissions data from 2019 to 2024, financial statements for the same period, and handwritten charity ward rates. According to Gomez, the documents failed to address the specific compliance requirements and revealed discrepancies between the hospital’s actual income and the income it declared for tax purposes.
Gomez also claimed that the hospital subleased a portion of the leased property for P10,000 per month without informing or securing approval from the city government, which she said further violated the terms of the agreement.
“The city government will not tolerate abuses by private institutions that benefit from favorable lease arrangements in exchange for public service obligations,” Gomez said.
She stressed that the LGU remains committed to ensuring that indigent mothers and children in Ormoc City continue to receive proper medical services, whether through government facilities or institutions that faithfully comply with their agreements with the city.
ROEL T. AMAZONA
