New tertiary hospital to open in Davao City

A MODERN tertiary hospital is slated to open its doors to the public on September 16.

The P300-million Metro Davao Medical and Research Center (MDMRC), which is owned by a group of Filipino-Chinese businessmen situated in the old Cuison Hotel along J.P. Laurel Avenue, is home to modern shopping malls, gleaming corporate high-rises, condominiums and spanky new hotels.

Dr. Yvette Yenco-Tan, medical director of DMRC, said the investors decided to venture into building a hospital during the 2010 dengue outbreak in the city, seeing the lack of hospital beds for dengue cases.

The hospital will have a 152-bed capacity and has at least eight wards.

She added that the hospital will have a research center for the conduct of clinical research. It will also be a wellness center with more than a hundred spaces available for doctor clinics serving an array of medical disciplines like family medicine, internal medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, EENT, (Ear, Eyes Nose and Throat), dermatology, among many others.

Tan said the new hospital has invested in modern medical equipment like the Philips TU 22 Vision 2012 ultrasound and the Philips IE 33 Vision 2012 ultrasound used as a cardio-dedicated machine.

The hospital is also looking into generating 400 new jobs particularly medical professionals.

Tan said they are currently interviewing applicants, citing they received around 2,000 applications. The hospital also aims to be less expensive than other hospitals in terms of charges.

Architect Daniel Briones, who is overseeing the construction of the hospital, said the old Cuison Hotel building, which has become an eyesore due to decades of neglect, will become an important landmark again in Davao City.

He said the old hotel structure built in the 1970s and whose structure is twice as strong as compared to modern buildings, has been retrofitted to suit the requirements needed for the hospital. The old Casino Filipino building in the hotel compound is now a four-storey hospital clinic while the hotel's swimming pool is now the site of a modern eight-storey medical building. (PIA)