MACTAN Doctors’ Hospital will undergo a three-phase expansion starting this year, which will cost them up to P200 million.
Last Saturday, officials of the CebuDoc Group of Hospitals and their contractor broke ground for the first phase of the expansion, which is the construction of a medical arts building that is slated for completion in six months.
After that, the hospital will embark on the second phase of expansion, which will be the construction of a two-level structure that will house an improved emergency facility, a 24- hour concierge (a first in Cebu), and desks for tourists and Mactan Economic Zone companies.
Mactan Doctors will also increase its hospital beds, adding 140 to its existing 160 beds, which officials project will suffice for the next 20 to 30 years.
Dr. Potenciano “Yong” Larrazabal III, president and chairman of the CebuDoc Group of Hospitals, said they are looking at two years within which to complete the expansion program.
“My dream for Mactan Doctors is for it to become a major player in the hospital industry here,” said Lazarrabal, adding that as Mactan’s economy and population continue to boom, demand for health care services will keep increasing.
“It is about time we expand Mactan Doctors. My first marching orders when I assumed as president of CebuDoc Group was to tell doctors and staff to not allow the patients to cross the bridge. We want them to stay here in Mactan Island. The goal is to make the hospital more complete and at the same time affordable,” he said.
The hospital’s three-level medical arts building can house
at least 51 doctors’ rooms. It will be connected to the main hospital, allowing a more seamless flow in the hospital operations.
Lapu-Lapu City Administrator Florito Pozon, who represented Mayor Paz Radaza, said the expansion of Mactan Doctors is a welcome development as it would support Mactan’s fast-growing economy.
Ambitious expansion
He said that quality health care services should be more readily accessible, considering Mactan’s population growth and other factors like the opening this year of a second terminal in
Mactan airport, which will feed the further expansion of hotels and other businesses.
The two-year expansion program is also expected to boost employment in the health care industry and bring in more advanced technology to fill health care gaps in Lapu-Lapu City.
The CebuDoc Group is also earmarking P1 billion to facilitate the expansion programs of its other member-hospitals within five years.
The group operates six hospitals: Ormoc Doctors’ Hospital, Cebu Doctors’ University Hospital, Mactan Doctors’ Hospital, SouthGen Doctors’ Hospital,
NorthGen Doctors’ Hospital, and San Carlos Doctors’ Hospital.
Larrazabal said that after completing Mactan Doctors’ expansion, they will concentrate on the upgrade and expansion of its sister-hospitals.
“In the main hospital, we are going to make a new building attached to the main one to accommodate more private rooms. For Cebu Doctors’ we will also increase the hospital beds from 300 beds to 400, which we will start constructing this year,” said Larrazabal.
For SouthGen Hospital, the group is going to develop a Trauma Center, which would be the
first private Trauma Center outside Metro Manila, in partnership with Emergency Rescue Unit Foundation (Eruf ).
For NorthGen, Larrazabal said they will be launching a Mother and Child Center soon that will offer the most affordable maternity packages.
The group will also launch its first aesthetic center, a drug rehabilitation center, and Cebu’s first hyperbaric chamber.
Ormoc Doctors’ will also transform its newly acquired building into a medical arts building. The group intends to build a commercial center for San Carlos Doctors’ Hospital.