The problem? The requirement says “beds,” not “wards.” Beds can be scattered here and there, often not in the same room, and that defeats the whole point of a charity ward — a dedicated space for those who need it most.

My suggestion is simple: interpret that 10% rule to mean charity wards, not just beds.

In principle, every public hospital should already be a charity hospital — free for everyone, not just the poor. The President’s recent pronouncement has moved us closer to that ideal in DOH hospitals. But I find it both amusing and a bit absurd that some public hospitals still have private rooms. Isn’t that an oxymoron — a “private” room in a public hospital?

I’m told they exist because hospitals need the extra revenue to survive under tight budgets. Maybe so. But if the President’s attention (and funding) is on this issue, perhaps that financial necessity will soon disappear. And maybe — just maybe — the day will come when private rooms vanish from public hospitals altogether, and every bed is, in effect, a charity bed.

Until that day, let’s make sure that private hospitals do their part. The 10% charity bed requirement shouldn’t just be a licensing checkbox; it should be visible, accessible, and serving those in need.

Right now, the DOH’s monitoring system is decentralized and largely manual. There’s no public dashboard to see which hospitals are compliant. Hospitals are supposed to declare their charity bed count in annual reports, but there’s little transparency. The DOH has hinted at requiring hospitals to post their charity bed numbers and standard fees publicly — both on-site and online — and I say, the sooner the better.

We could also sweeten the deal: offer tax incentives or PhilHealth processing priority for hospitals that actively and transparently maintain charity wards. Because while “charity” may sound like an act of goodwill, in this case, it’s also a legal obligation.

Yes, PhilHealth and PCSO are there to help cover costs, so technically these aren’t “free” beds in the sense of pure philanthropy. But at least they aren’t an oxymoron — unlike the private rooms in public hospitals.

If the government can truly enforce the zero-balance policy in DOH hospitals and require genuine charity wards in private ones, then maybe we can move closer to the day when the word “indigent” will no longer determine whether you get treated — or how well.

And if that day comes, we won’t just be reinventing the charity wards. We’ll be reinventing fairness itself.