Hospital Levels in the Philippines: Level 1, 2 and 3 Explained, and What Each Can Treat

Quick Answer: The Department of Health licenses every Philippine hospital as Level 1, 2 or 3 under Administrative Order 2012-0012. Level 1 has a doctor in charge, an operating room, maternity ward, laboratory, X-ray and pharmacy; Level 2 adds board-certified specialists, an ICU and NICU; Level 3 adds residency training, dialysis, a blood bank and interventional radiology. Every hospital must post its level at the entrance.

Every licensed hospital in the Philippines carries one of three levels set by Department of Health Administrative Order 2012-0012. A Level 1 hospital has a doctor in charge, an operating room, a maternity ward, a laboratory, X-ray and a pharmacy; a Level 2 hospital adds board-certified specialists in the four major departments, an intensive care unit and a neonatal ICU; a Level 3 hospital adds residency training, a dialysis unit, a blood bank and interventional radiology (DOH and DBM manual on the three levels). Since 2017 every hospital has had to post its level at the entrance. This guide explains what each level must have, how to check a hospital's level, and why it matters when you are choosing where to go. Browse all hospitals, primary (Level 1), secondary (Level 2) and tertiary (Level 3) hospitals on Healthcare Philippines.

What must each level have?

Level	Required capabilities (minimum, per AO 2012-0012)	Typical example
Level 1 (formerly primary)	Licensed physician in charge; beds for the authorised capacity; operating room and post-operative recovery room; maternity ward and delivery room; isolation facilities; dental clinic; blood station; DOH-licensed secondary clinical laboratory with a consulting pathologist; Level 1 imaging with a consulting radiologist; licensed pharmacy	District, municipal and small community hospitals; the DOH staffing model sizes them at 25 to 75 beds
Level 2 (formerly secondary)	All of Level 1, plus a chief of hospital and board-certified department heads; departmentalised services in medicine, paediatrics, obstetrics and gynaecology and surgery; general ICU; neonatal ICU; high-risk pregnancy unit; respiratory therapy; tertiary clinical laboratory; Level 2 imaging with mobile X-ray and contrast studies	Provincial hospitals and mid-sized private hospitals; new DOH hospitals such as the Laguna Regional Hospital in Bay were created by law as Level 2 (DOH Health Facility Development Bureau list)
Level 3 (formerly tertiary)	All of Level 2, plus accredited residency training in the four major specialties; physical medicine and rehabilitation unit; ambulatory surgical clinic; dialysis unit; blood bank; tertiary laboratory with histopathology; Level 3 imaging with interventional radiology	DOH regional medical centers such as Jose B. Lingad Memorial General Hospital in Pampanga and Region 1 Medical Center in Dagupan (1,500 beds under RA 12203); the big private medical centers

Two things sit outside the three levels. Specialty hospitals such as the Philippine Heart Center, the Lung Center, the National Kidney and Transplant Institute and the Philippine Children's Medical Center are licensed for one organ system or patient group rather than by level. Infirmaries and primary care facilities are licensed separately below Level 1: an infirmary can admit patients for short stays but has no operating room, and a rural health unit or health center cannot admit at all. Our guide to health centers and RHUs covers that tier.

How do you tell a hospital's level?

• The sign at the door. Section 3 of Republic Act 10932, the strengthened Anti-Hospital Deposit Law of 2017, requires every hospital to post at its entrance a notice of its DOH classification level and the list of services it is authorised to perform.
• The DOH list. The Health Facility Development Bureau publishes the roster of hospitals the DOH itself runs, region by region, with each hospital's enabling law and the level Congress set for it (HFDB-DOH). For private and local government hospitals the level appears on the DOH licence to operate displayed in the lobby.
• The directory. Healthcare Philippines groups hospitals under primary, secondary and tertiary, the old names for Levels 1 to 3, and listings such as Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center in Cebu describe the hospital's classification.

Why does the level matter?

In an emergency, less than you might think. Go to the nearest emergency room. RA 10932 forbids any hospital from demanding a deposit before giving basic emergency care, and it allows a hospital that lacks the capability to transfer you, after stabilising you and with your consent, to one that has it; the receiving hospital may not refuse or demand a deposit either. A Level 1 hospital will stabilise a heart attack and move you; a Level 2 or 3 hospital will admit you to its ICU. Our guide on what to do in a medical emergency covers the numbers to call.

For planned care, a great deal. The level tells you what can be done on site. Dialysis, chemotherapy, heart surgery, organ transplants, histopathology and interventional radiology need a Level 3 licence. Caesarean sections, appendectomies and most general surgery are within Level 1. A high-risk pregnancy belongs in a Level 2 or 3 hospital with a high-risk pregnancy unit and NICU.

For PhilHealth, the case rate is the same at every level. PhilHealth pays a fixed amount per illness or procedure that the hospital deducts from the bill before discharge, inclusive of professional fees (PhilHealth benefits). What varies is the balance, which is usually most of the bill in a private hospital and nothing in a ward bed of a DOH hospital: the zero balance billing policy applies in the 87 DOH hospitals, including the specialty centers (Philstar explainer, August 2025). Our guide to public and private hospitals explains the choice.

For referrals, the level is the ladder. Your rural health unit or health center refers you to the district or provincial hospital, which refers upward to the DOH regional medical center when it cannot manage the case.

What can each level treat?

• Level 1: admission for pneumonia, dengue, gastroenteritis and other common illnesses; normal and caesarean deliveries; appendectomy, hernia repair and other general surgery; basic laboratory and X-ray; a doctor and nurses on duty around the clock; stabilisation and transfer of anything more serious.
• Level 2: everything above plus specialist care from board-certified internists, paediatricians, obstetricians and surgeons; intensive care for adults and newborns; high-risk pregnancies; ventilator support; CT and contrast studies; a tertiary laboratory.
• Level 3: everything above plus dialysis, blood banking, cancer treatment, neurosurgery and cardiac procedures, interventional radiology, rehabilitation medicine, day surgery and the subspecialties that come with residency training programmes.

How do you find the right hospital?

Search tertiary hospitals when you need specialist or complex care, general hospitals for admissions and surgery, and government hospitals when cost is the deciding factor and confirm the level and the service you need by phone before you travel. For what a DOH hospital costs and how the Malasakit Center works, see our guide to government hospitals and Malasakit Centers.