THE Cebu Provincial Health Office (PHO) received P230 million from the Senate for the construction of four buildings for the Bogo City Provincial Hospital.
Sen. Risa Hontiveros led the groundbreaking ceremony of the buildings in Bogo yesterday. With her was Sen. Bam Aquino.
“This hospital we are starting to construct today is the product of genuine partnership and a true commitment to the health and welfare of the community by the local and national governments,” Hontiveros said.
Hontiveros thanked Gov. Hilario Davide III for the Province’s commitment to the project.
This buildings, which can accommodate 200 beds, will not only serve Cebu but also the neighboring province of Masbate.
The Bogo hospital will also serve residents of Bantayan Island and Daanbanatayan.
Aside from the hospital in Bogo, other hospitals in the province have been upgraded too with the support of the Department of Health (DOH).
Dr. Rene Catan, provincial health officer, said that for now there are four provincial hospitals that are undergoing massive upgrading.
The hospitals in Bantayan and Daanbanatayan towns will also benefit from the upgrade projects.
Catan said that the projects are aimed at sparing residents in the northern towns from going to Cebu City for medical treatment and examinations.
Catan also talked about the free use of ambulance units, but only for patients who really need it.
“If it’s not an emergency we’ll qualify it because it will overwork our personnel and the same time would overuse our imported equipment,” Catan said.
The use of ambulance will be determined by the doctors and the social welfare personnel, not the patients, he said. (Mary Diane Salasayo, USJR Intern)