NSPH partnership with Planet Drugstore means additional income, solution to medicine needs

CATARMAN, Northern Samar – The partnership of the province with the private drugstore company Planet Drugstore means an affirmative result for the provincial government of Northern Samar as it will provide them additional income and not just provide solution to the medicine needs of their patients.

Dr. Catherine Layon-Miral, provincial health officer, said that Planet Drugstore does not only provide solution to medicine but also provide income for they are renting the space they are using inside the provincial hospital and the 5.5% from the net income of the drugstore would also be given to the hospital itself.

The operation of Planet Drugstore in the vicinity of the Northern Samar Provincial Hospital was made possible through the Public Private Partnership program of the government which the Northern Samar provincial government was the first local government unit to take initiative in implementing PPP program for hospital.

It is part of Governor Paul Daza’s effort to improve the delivery of health services in his province which he describe as “somewhat a cutting-edge as it is the first Public-Private Partnership involving the health sector.”
Erwin Zsornack, president of Planet Drugstore Corp, said that their partnership in the province of Northern Samar is what they consider the first of its kind and would be their model for project implementation in other LGUs.

“We cannot compare this project to what we had done in Makati City government because they are already Makati, they had the capability to pay anytime and the resources, this partnership with Northern Samar is the best model which we can use in the future, that is why we need to make this successful,” Zsornack said.

He added reason why before they implement the project is that they are ensuring first that the local government chief executive is willing to comply with all the requirements stipulated in the memorandum of agreement they need to sign.

Under the MOA signed by the provincial government and Planet Drugstore, the latter would be operating for three years, and the provincial government would only be paying the drugstore based on the medicine that was accumulated by patients of NSPH.

Zsornack added that since the provincial government is the one to pay for the billing of the medicines that are to be accumulated, it is important that patients should be Philhealth accredited.

He also added that medicines that are sold in their pharmacy were all examined and has approval from the Bureau of Food and Drugs and patients has an option if they want to buy branded or generics type of medicine.

Moreover, the medicine that are to be supplied or sold by the drugstore at NSPH are based on the record of what are the most needed medicine or to what are the most medicine that are usually prescribed by doctors to their patients said Dr. Joseph Estanislao, NSPH chief.

“This is on top of the list provided by the Department of Health, we also have list of medicines that are usually needed by our patients,” he stressed.