SOME major changes in the structural design of the Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC), including the number of floors, will be implemented by the Cebu City Government to produce a better hospital.
In a letter to then acting city engineer Josefa Ylanan, Hospital Administrator Kenneth Siasar said that adjustments have to be done, not only in the room configurations, sizes and, assignments by floor, but also the types of flooring, walls, and ceiling finishes.
“Following the temporary reduction of the number of floors from 10 floors to 7 floors, because of budget constraints at this time, the location assignment and adjustment of the different rooms and facilities of the entire project need to be revised and adjusted to conform to the reduced number of beds, but still confirming to the existing DOH requirements,” reads a portion of the letter.
Siasar said in the latter that the changes had to be addressed as soon as possible. “In order not to waste scant government resources, works and partitions...have to be suspended until (some specifications) are finalized and approved by us, the users.”
The letter was dated April 6, 2018 and noted by Councilor Mary Ann delos Santos, who serves as deputy mayor for health services.
The same letter was also posted by Mayor Tomas Osmeña in his Facebook page to clarify that work on the CCMC project was not suspended.
Major variations
However, in a memorandum dated April 6, Osmeña temporarily suspended work on the CCMC but did not specify what part of the project would be affected.
“The CCMC intends to initiate major variations in the scope of the contract during its implementation to suit changes in physical conditions of the hospital to conform to the existing requirements of the DOH,” reads a portion of the memorandum.
In a text message last Friday, Councilor delos Santos explained that from a 10-storey building in the original plan for the CCMC project, the facility will be six floors instead.
Because of the changes, the number of beds to comply with DOH’s requirements for a tertiary hospital also has to be adjusted, delos Santos said.
“Some private rooms will be converted to wards to accommodate more patients. There will be a total of 219 beds, which would still be compliant at the tertiary level,” she told SunStar Cebu.
Not done today
A tertiary hospital needs to have 150 to 200 beds, the councilor said.
Meanwhile, following the issuance of show-cause order, the Department of Engineering and Public Works DEPW will have to evaluate the contractor’s explanation for why work on the project was delayed.
Engr. Kenneth Enriquez said that the delay incurred in the civil works of the project is already a ground to terminate the contract between the two parties.
As of March this year, C.E. Padilla Construction Inc., the contractor of the project, had incurred a -23 percent slippage, which means that they were behind schedule.
The target completion date for Phase 1 of the new CMMC was supposed to be today, May 27.
“They have to explain the delay and we will also refer the matter to the City Legal Office because they have a contract with the City,” Enriquez said. (RVC)