DOH flagged after P1.4 billion ‘idle cash’ found in various accounts

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COA says Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa agrees to require heads of health development centers and government hospitals to immediately transfer unauthorized, unnecessary, idle or dormant cash balances to the National Treasury

MANILA, Philippines – Government auditors flagged the Department of Health (DOH) after discovering P1.417 billion of unutilized cash or income in the accounts of its centers for health development (CHDs) and government hospitals.

In its 2023 report on the DOH, the Commission on Audit (COA) said that the department had yet to remit P1,417,203,819.35 unutilized cash to the Bureau of Treasury (BTr):

• P1.016 billion in accounts maintained by the Mariano Marcos Memorial Hospital and Medical Center (MMMHMC) under DOH-Region 1
• P207.01 million in four bank accounts of the Zamboanga CHD under DOH-Region 9
• P57.656 million from the Northern Mindanao Medical Center (NMMC) under DOH-Region 10 (due to delayed or canceled projects)
• P80.49 million from the Eastern Valley CHD in DOH-Region 8 (remitted to the BTr after the planned program or activity did not push through)

The commission noted that government agencies are supposed to remit revenues and money in unauthorized accounts, on top of excess or idle funds for projects to the treasury to be part of the government’s fund.

“The inability to remit to the BTr the cash balances is contrary to laws and regulations and deprived the national government of the use of idle cash for other priority projects and defeated the purpose of maximizing the use of financial resources,” COA said.

It also noted that MMHMC’s excess funds, which resulted in over a billion pesos, represented “unrestricted and idle cash-in-bank.”

“The material cash surplus would give an impression that there are inadequacies in the management of financial resources of the hospital,” said COA.

In their reply, the MMHMC management said that the unutilized fund balance as of December 31, 2023 will be used for Early Procurement Activities in 2024. They said that the money will be used for “supplies, equipment for specialty centers, operating expenses, and IT infrastructure.”

The management also said that the head of its accounting unit will conduct a quarterly analyses of cash accounts to prevent similar incidents in the future.

Meanwhile, COA said that Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa agreed to require heads of CHDs and government hospitals to immediately transfer unauthorized, unnecessary, idle or dormant cash balances to the National Treasury. – Rappler.com