The government on Friday said that it will correct serious problems discovered by the Commission on Audit (COA) when it reported that some P43-million worth of equipment and other facilities are lying idle in several state-run hospitals.

Palace deputy spokesman Abigail Valte disclosed that she already spoke with Health Undersecretary Ted Herbosa and told the latter to further study the 2011 Audit report, which stated that some government properties have not been utilized because of defects, poor maintenance and lack of trained personnel.

“I spoke with Undersecretary Herbosa this morning and I did raise the matter of the news report on the COA observations. He told me that he will be validating the specific claims and observations of the COA and that the Department of Health [DOH] will be acting appropriately on it,” Valte said.

She added that the government will make sure that all concerned hospitals will be investigated to determine if any of the equipment can still be utilized.

“The DOH is now, as we speak, validating the specific observations of the COA and rest assured that it will be taking appropriate steps to make sure that there is no wastage of public funds,” Valte said.

In its report for the year 2011, the audit agency disclosed that among the equipment and machines that lie idle in these medical facilities is the P9.6-million fire protection system of the Philippine Orthopedic Center in Quezon City.

Also, about P7.1-million worth of laboratory equipment for processing of histopath specimen at the Tondo Medical Center had also not been used since 2002 because of lack of personnel.

The commission added that besides non-delivery of quality health care services as promised by the government, non-usage of these machines also resulted in foregone revenues and wastage of government funds.