Health Secretary Ted Herbosa revealed on Friday that the number of ‘non-operational’ super health centers identified by the Department of Health (DOH) nationwide has risen to 300.
‘Yesterday, I announced 297. I thought the number had decreased because some I visited had opened, but it didn’t decrease-it increased. Now it’s 300,’ Herbosa said in a press briefing following his appearance at an inter-agency coordination meeting with the Independent Commission on Infrastructure (ICI) on Friday.
According to the DOH chief, most of the non-operational super health centers are in Luzon.
‘Majority, of course, are in Luzon because it is the largest landmass. I think over 170 of the 300 are in Luzon, with the rest distributed across Visayas and Mindanao,’ he said.
Herbosa added that he has already instructed regional directors to inspect the 300 non-operational centers.
Following the briefing, the DOH released data showing that a total of 878 super health centers were funded under the Health Facility Enhancement Program nationwide. Of these, 300 are non-operational, 196 are operational, 17 are partially operational, and 365 are under construction as of Friday.
Herbosa said the DOH will continue investigating super health centers, with support from the ICI.
The health secretary also announced plans to establish a Citizens Participatory Audit, providing the public with a platform to report potential issues concerning super health centers in their communities.
Introduced in 2021, super health centers were designed as an upgraded version of rural health units./mcm