By Kit Bagaipo
The Bohol ChronicleThe Medical Mission Group Hospital and Health Services Cooperative (Coop Hospital) will file charges against six employees for allegedly conniving to overstate hospitalization claims on the city's Blue Card program.
The filing of cases against the hospital's 2 cashiers, 2 billing clerks and 2 assistant bookkeepers will pave way for their dismissal.
This was bared in an interview with a hospital official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The source admitted the padding of hospitalization bills charged on the Blue Card happened several times.
It started with a non-city resident who was able to claim refund of hospital bills, the source said.
According to the hospital official, connivance among their key staff was only part of the irregularity.
Along the process of making claims, the source said, there is also collusion with City Hall employees.
Even if the six employees implicated in the padding of claims have not yet been officially terminated, they are no longer reporting for work, according to the Coop official.
It may be recalled City Mayor Dan Lim prohibited further payments of claims to Coop Hospital patients covered by the Blue Card.
The mayor likewise threatened non-renewal of the cooperative's lease of the hospital buildings, which is owned by the city government, if he is not satisfied with the investigation undertaken by the hospital's ethics and grievance committee.
Atty. Eliseo Labaria, Coop Hospital legal counsel and hospital ethics committee chair, bared in a separate interview with the Chronicle yesterday that the employees to be dismissed were found to have directly participated in the reported padding of claims.
Initially, when the padding of claims controversy was uncovered, three employees who were accused to be involved were suspended by the hospital.
This included an employee who complained to the mayor and accused the hospital of using her Blue Card to fabricate claims.
Asked to comment if the hospital management has responsibility in the Blue Card mess, Labaria said top management of the Coop Hospital were even surprised to learn regarding the padding of claims.
According to Labaria, he also submitted his findings to Blue Card administrator and city health officer Dr. Antonio Porticos for review.
It is now up to the city mayor to decide, Labaria added, on the Coop Hospital Blue Card accreditation.
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