Lawmakers belonging to the so-called “progressive bloc” in the House of Representatives have filed a measure that would require private and government hospitals in the country to accord priority to senior citizens.

Under House Bill 6686 principally filed by Bayan Muna Reps. Satur Ocampo and Neri Colmenares, hospitals will be required to designate “friendly lanes” that shall be for the exclusive use of the elderly who are in need of hospital confinement by reason of their health conditions.

“The friendly lane shall be referred to as any desk or office within a government or private hospital that will facilitate the hospitalization transaction and other similar needs of elderly Filipinos,” Colmenares said.

Ocampo, a senatorial candidate of the Nacionalista Party of Sen. Manny Villar, said the friendly lane would also serve as a one-stop shop for all hospitalization transactions of senior citizens, including registration and clinical examination.

He said the designation of friendly lanes would spare the senior citizens from the inconvenience of waiting in long lines along with all other patients.

“Their (elderly) experience of having to go through the process of transacting with different offices within hospitals has always been taxing and stressful,” Ocampo said.