PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte has signed into law Republic Act (RA) 11717, which increases the bed capacity of the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC) in Cebu City from 1,200 to 1,500.
RA 11717, which was approved on April 29 but was only published Friday, May 6, also mandates the upgrading of VSMMC’s existing professional healthcare services and facilities “to conform with and commensurate to the increase in bed capacity.”
The signing of the law means that the existing workforce of the VSMMC, which includes doctors, nurses and support personnel, should be also increased correspondingly.
Duterte then ordered the Department of Health (DOH) secretary to consult the VSMMC chief, in coordination with the Department of Budget and Management and the chairperson of the Civil Service Commission, to determine the additional new positions to be created and filled up.
“The secretary of the DOH shall immediately include in the Department’s program the implementation of this Act, the funding of which shall be included in the annual Appropriations Act,” Section 4 of RA 11717 stated.
The law also stated that any future increase in bed capacity should be consistent with the hospital development plan, which will be prepared by the DOH.
Malacañang said RA 11717 will take effect 15 days after its publication in the Official Gazette or in newspaper of general circulation.
RA 11717 was passed in the House of Representatives on December 1, 2020 and the Senate approved it on January 31, 2022.
The VSMMC, a “general tertiary medical center teaching training medical facility owned by the Philippine government,” has been operating since 1911. It aims to provide affordable healthcare services to Filipinos regardless of social status.
At present, it has specialty centers that handle concerns related to the heart and lungs, kidney transplant, oncology, trauma, orthopedic, infectious diseases and tropical medicine, geriatric and diabetes control, among others.