A plan to build a world-class medical tourism facility within Quezon City’s north and east triangles is encountering opposition from health workers.

The plan, spelled out in a Health Department resolution, calls for the integration of five state-owned hospitals into the Philippine Center for Specialized Health Care. Health workers branded the plan as a subtle means to trim the workforce in the five state hospitals and enable the government to engage in profit-oriented venture, sacrificing the welfare of indigents.

The creation of PCSHC will serve as the centerpiece of the government’s medical tourism program that aims to earn more dollars, according to the Health resolution, whose avowed goal is “to maximize the advantages arising from a commonality of hospital services and facilities.”

Health Secretary Francisco Duque, four of his undersecretaries and members of the board of trustees of the specialized hospitals signed the resolution.