THE Davao Occidental General Hospital in Barangay Lacaron, Malita, Davao Occidental was officially opened Tuesday, March 15, 2022.

Residents consider the hospital a long-time dream come true as they do not need to travel and bring their patients to Davao City anymore.

Davao Occidental Representative Lorna Bautista-Bandigan expressed her elation for the successful establishment of the hospital.

The hospital is a government hospital just like the Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC) in Davao City, which has a 100-bed capacity and is considered to be a state-of-the-art healthcare facility.

"Natuman na gyod ang usa ka damgo, ug mas maningkamot pa kita nga mohimo og dugang mga balaud nga ikalipay ug ikaayo sa tanan natong mga residente ngari sa Malita (A dream has come true and we will exert our effort to create more laws that will bring joy and good to our residents here in Malita)," Bautista-Bandigan said in an ambush interview during the hospital's inauguration.

It was on June 24, 2021 when President Rodrigo Duterte signed House Bill 7321, or an “Act Establishing a General Hospital in Barangay Lacaron, Municipality of Malita, Province of Davao Occidental to be Known as the Davao Occidental General Hospital, and Appropriating Funds Therefor."

The signing was attended by several members of Congress and the Palace when Duterte signed 16 bills, 13 of which were related to health and requests to add bed capacities in hospitals in different parts of the Philippines.

Bautista-Bandiga said the establishment of the provincial hospital is a result of their inspiration to build one because of the number of hours the residents had to endure just to be serviced by a tertiary hospital in Davao City.

The province was created on October 28, 2016 when Davao del Sur was divided through a referendum.

"Even before una ang pagbahin sa Del Sur, usa ka kini ka dako nga plano — plano nga alang sa katawhan ngari, ilaha kini, karon hapit nang magamit, gusto nato nga magamit kini sa unang kuwarter sa 2022 (Even before the division of del Sur, this was already a huge plan - a plan for the residents here, this is for them and soon we can utilize it. We want to this hospital to operate in the first quarter of 2022)," Bautista-Bandigan added.

The congresswoman expressed her gratitude to Senator Bong Go, the chairperson of the Senate Committee on Health, for his support.

Go was also present during the inauguration of the hospital.