BY GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri yesterday pledged P400 million for the construction of the 100-bed government hospital in Brgy. Vista Alegre, Bacolod City.
Zubiri, who led the groundbreaking rites of the Bacolod City General Hospital (BCGH), said the P400 million is on top of the P200 million he gave to the project, under the 2022 budget.
Bacolod Rep. Greg Gasataya authored House Bill 6713 for the establishment of Bacolod City General Hospital, and Zubiri sponsored a counterpart bill in the Senate. It was signed into a law by then President Rodrigo Duterte in 2021.
Establishing the BCGH will accomplish two things – one, it will decongest the existing hospitals in the city, and two, it will ensure that our constituents have access to quality health care that is more affordable than private hospitals, Zubiri, who traces his family roots to Negros Occidental, said.
On top of that, by establishing the BCGH, while we are giving our people a better chance of availing public health services, we are also allowing our health workers at the Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital to work within their capacity. In taking care of our patients and our health care workers alike, we are ensuring an effective health care system for all, the Senate president stressed.
Bacolod Mayor Abelardo Benitez also said that BCGH “is a very welcome support coming from the national government,” adding that the city government will manage the hospital.
Expecting that it will be operational in a year or two, he said they are now discussing its staffing pattern, and studying the best way to manage it.
Benitez and DOH-Western Visayas regional director Adriano Suba-an also signed a memorandum of agreement for the transfer of the P250 million fund from the DOH – Health Facilities Enhancement Program to the city government of Bacolod.
With the additional P400 million pledge of Zubiri, the BCGH is now a P850 million health facility.
Gasataya, on the other hand, thanked the family of Gloria Gensoli for the 4-hectare lot donation to the City Hospital, as he admitted that it was not easy for him in pushing for the establishment of the health facility.
“If we want to do something, even how difficult it is, we can do it, as long as we give our time and efforts,” he stressed.
The first phase, with a project cost of P200 million, involves the construction of a multi-purpose building, comprising three separate structures, including a dietary building, a morgue, and a linen and laundry office.
It will be implemented by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) 6 (Western Visayas) through a joint venture of contractors AM Oreta Construction/International Builders Corp.
DPWH regional director Nerie Bueno said the multi-purpose building would house the various facilities that would support the operation of the government-owned hospital.
Bueno said they are targeting to finish the hospital by June next year “if the weather permits.”*
