The Aquino administration started the Health Facilities Enhancement Program (HFEP) in 2010 to provide large-scale capital investment for increasing the stock of hospitals and health centers in the country. Given the substantial financial resource allocated to the program, which aims to build and equip public health facilities, has HFEP increased the utilization of local health services? An impact evaluation study of HFEP was conducted to assess the net effect of the program. The study finds that hospitals and infirmaries that received HFEP investments showed a higher volume of services than those that did not. However, its implementation has been found to be problematic. Issues documented in the study include the inadequacy of HFEP funding that necessitated local governments to contribute their own funds to complete the construction of facilities, prolonged construction due to lack of budget, and delays on the part of the contractors.
