Official Statement of B. Braun Philippines
Several statements were made about B. Braun Avitum Philippines, Inc. (B. Braun Avitum) at the Philippine Senate Hearing on 4th August and 11th August 2020.
The Company would like to respond in particular to the following points.
1. B. Braun Avitum Philippines, Inc. is registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Our company was originally incorporated as Philippine Renal Care, Inc. on 24 January 2002 with registration number A200201223, and later renamed as B. Braun Avitum Philippines, Inc.
B. Braun, a 180-year old family-owned company, is a global medical technology company with headquarters in Germany. With over 64,000 employees, B. Braun provides healthcare products and medical devices to more than 64 countries, with a comprehensive range of therapies that include Infusion, Surgery, Infection Prevention, and Dialysis, among others. In the Philippines, B. Braun, through its wholly owned subsidiaries - B. Braun Medical Supplies, Inc., and B. Braun Avitum Philippines, Inc. - has been operating for 34 years, engaged in the delivery of medical equipment and devices, and dialysis treatment.
2. There are no ‘ghost dialysis machines’ in B. Braun Avitum
B. Braun Avitum owns and operates 25 dialysis centers in Luzon, providing more than 27,000 treatments a month for over 3,000 patients. Each dialysis center responds to treatment requirements of patients by increasing capacity through additional shifts, if the placement of additional machines is not feasible due to space constraints.
The assumed operating days of 5 days a week does not apply to B. Braun Avitum, because all our centers are open 6 days a week. This translates to an average of 96 treatments per month, compared to the 72 assumed and mentioned during the Senate Hearing, which led to the Senate Hearing being informed of the 133% capacity rate.
B. Braun Avitum has absolutely no ‘ghost machines’ in any of the centers we operate.
3. B. Braun Avitum does not conduct business through favors or any means other than legitimate, above-board transactions at all times.
B. Braun Avitum applied to avail of the Interim Reimbursement Mechanism (IRM) fund in good faith, based on guidelines from PhilHealth. We did not misrepresent our application for IRM funds to be used for the treatment of CoVID+ patients.
Out of the 18 IRM fund applications submitted by B. Braun Avitum, only 5 were approved. For these 5 applications, the submission of Memoranda of Agreement (MOA) was done towards the end of March 2020. The first release of funds was received only on 27th April, while the rest were received by B. Braun Avitum a week later on the first week of May. There is no truth to the allegations that B. Braun Avitum is favored.
4. In no way is B. Braun Avitum connected with the dealings of PhilHealth with Balanga Rural Bank, Inc.
The PHP 9.7 Million paid to B. Braun Avitum represents payments for legitimate reimbursement claims for dialysis treatments already rendered. These payments should have been received by B. Braun Avitum in May 2019, but the funds were received by B. Braun Avitum only in September 2019.
Prior to this, PhilHealth reimbursements made to B. Braun Avitum have always been deposited online to the B. Braun Avitum-nominated bank, Deutsche Bank Manila.
B. Braun Avitum is in no way involved in the PhilHealth credit of PHP 9.7 Million to a rural bank in Balanga, Bataan. We do not own a bank account in any bank in Balanga, Bataan.
Our corporate vision is to protect and improve the health of people around the world. In operating our dialysis centers, we are acutely mindful of this purpose. To date, B. Braun Avitum has rendered 589 treatments to 135 CoVID+ patients across our hospital-based clinics. It is important to emphasize that without continuity of regular treatment, dialysis patients will die.
For more information, please contact:
Ma. Cecilia Victoria Cannon
Corporate Communications
macecilia.cannon@bbraun.com
www.bbraun.ph
Manila, 19 August 2020 – Several statements have been made about B. Braun Avitum Philippines, Inc. (B. Braun Avitum) at the three hearings of the Philippine Senate on its investigation on PhilHealth. The Company would like to respond in particular to the following points.
1. B. Braun Avitum Philippines, Inc. is registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Our company was originally incorporated as Philippine Renal Care, Inc. on 24 January 2002 with registration number A200201223, and later renamed as B. Braun Avitum Philippines, Inc.
B. Braun, a 180-year old family-owned company, is a global medical technology company with headquarters in Germany. With over 64,000 employees, B. Braun provides healthcare products and medical devices to more than 64 countries, with a comprehensive range of therapies that include Infusion, Surgery, Infection Prevention, and Dialysis, among others. In the Philippines, B. Braun, through its wholly owned subsidiaries - B. Braun Medical Supplies, Inc., and B. Braun Avitum Philippines, Inc. - has been operating for 34 years, engaged in the delivery of medical equipment and devices, and dialysis treatment.
2. There are no ‘ghost dialysis machines’ in B. Braun Avitum
B. Braun Avitum owns and operates 25 dialysis centers in Luzon, providing more than 27,000 treatments a month for over 3,000 patients. Each dialysis center responds to treatment requirements of patients by increasing capacity through additional shifts, if the placement of additional machines is not feasible due to space constraints.
The assumed operating days of 5 days a week does not apply to B. Braun Avitum, because all our centers are open 6 days a week. This translates to an average of 96 treatments per month, compared to the 72 assumed and mentioned during the Senate Hearing, which led to the Senate Hearing being informed of the 133% capacity rate.
B. Braun Avitum has absolutely no ‘ghost machines’ in any of the centers we operate.
3. B. Braun Avitum does not conduct business through favors or any means other than legitimate, above-board transactions at all times.
B. Braun Avitum applied to avail of the Interim Reimbursement Mechanism (IRM) fund in good faith, based on guidelines from PhilHealth. We did not misrepresent our application for IRM funds to be used for the treatment of CoVID+ patients.
Out of the 18 IRM fund applications submitted by B. Braun Avitum, only 5 were approved. For these 5 applications, the submission of Memoranda of Agreement (MOA) was done towards the end of March 2020. The first release of funds was received only on 27th April, while the rest were received by B. Braun Avitum a week later on the first week of May. There is no truth to the allegations that B. Braun Avitum is favored.
4. In no way is B. Braun Avitum connected with the dealings of PhilHealth with Balanga Rural Bank, Inc.
The PHP 9.7 Million paid to B. Braun Avitum represents payments for legitimate reimbursement claims for dialysis treatments already rendered. These payments should have been received by B. Braun Avitum in May 2019, but the funds were received by B. Braun Avitum only in September 2019.
Prior to this, PhilHealth reimbursements made to B. Braun Avitum have always been deposited online to the B. Braun Avitum-nominated bank, Deutsche Bank Manila.
B. Braun Avitum is in no way involved in the PhilHealth credit of PHP 9.7 Million to a rural bank in Balanga, Bataan. We do not own a bank account in any bank in Balanga, Bataan.
Our corporate vision is to protect and improve the health of people around the world. In operating our dialysis centers, we are acutely mindful of this purpose. To date, B. Braun Avitum has rendered 589 treatments to 135 CoVID+ patients across our hospital-based clinics. It is important to emphasize that without continuity of regular treatment, dialysis patients will die.