La Union Medical Center (LUMC) has created strategies to maintain economic sustainability. A private-public mix model has be implementer to recover cost. In 2002, LUMC entered into a "Joint-Venture Agreement" with the private sector, outsourcing vital hospital equipment like MRI and hemodialysis equipment. Under the agreement, the private sector partners cover the cost of the rental, electricity, and staff time. Fifteen percent of the gross revenue is given to the hospital. This income is placed in the Trust Fund and used to subsidize indigent patients.
LUMC provides equivalent services to all patients regardless of their income level, but the cost of services is based on the ability to pay. The Center also sidesteps the “dole out mentality” and allows poor patients to pay in kind.
To date, LUMC has served 261,538 patients. For 2006, 52% were charity patients who were given free hospitalization and medicines. Forty percent are PhilHealth members (social insurance), and 8% are patients who pay in full.
The Provincial Government of La Union has continued to contribute a P30 million subsidy to the Center, but the coverage has widened. The subsidy now represents a much smaller proportion of total hospital income. The profit of the LUMC has been retained for the improvement of the facility equipment. For efficient tracking of expenditures, LUMC has also invested in an integrated hospital financing system and the E-NGAS (Electronic New Government Auditing System).
