SENATOR JV Ejercito pledged equipment and possible expansion for the Kalinga children’s hospital.
Ejercito, chairman of the Senate Committee on Health and vice chairman of the Committee on Finance, is betting to up the bed capacity of hospitals all over the country, targeting to upgrade institutions in the provinces in a bid to improve health facilities.
“Lahat ng probinsya natin over na sa bed capacity, we plan to target this in five years allotting at least 60 to 70 billion a year,” said the senator.
Ejercito said the country needs 42,000 beds and a budget of P292 billion to improve hospitals all over the country.
In February, the province held a groundbreaking for the construction of the Kalinga Children’s Ward and Wellness Center of the Kalinga Provincial Hospital (KPH).
The project is ongoing funded through a 20 percent provincial development fund and will cost around P110 million to build with the provincial government allotting P56 million with another P60 million sourced from the national government.
The first phase of the project is set to be completed by next year.
The Kalinga Children’s Ward and Wellness Center is at the compound of the old provincial hospital with a bed capacity of 60.
In Baguio City, Ejercito, approved House Bill 6619 increasing the bed capacity of Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center (BGHMC) making the present 500 beds to 800 with upgrading its existing service facilities and professional health care services.
At present, BGHMC caters 80 percent indigent patients including PhilHealth funded patients. The hospital’s annual statistics report reveals that every year, the hospital exceeds its bed occupancy due to its volume of admission.
In 2015 alone, its bed occupancy rate has reached 133.92 percent with a total admission of 37,022.