MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Health (DOH) and the Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center (BGHMC) are starting the bidding process for the hospital’s P392 million dialysis center public private partnership (PPP) project as they issued the invitation for interested firms to qualify and bid for the project.
In an invitation to bid posted on the PPP Center’s website, the DOH and BGHMC said interested firms may bid for the project, which will involve the finance, design, retrofit, supply, and operation and maintenance of a dialysis center within the BGHMC compound that will serve hemodialysis patients in Benguet and surrounding areas.
“Bidding is open to all interested parties, whether local or foreign, subject to conditions for qualification under the bidding documents, the Constitution, Republic Act 6957, as amended by RA 7718 (Build-Operate-Transfer Law) and its revised 2022 Implementing Rules and Regulations, and other applicable laws and jurisprudence,” the DOH and BGHMC said.
The project will be structured as a 16-year build-operate-transfer PPP, with a construction period of one year.
Under the project, the private sector partner will be responsible for the rehabilitation of an existing three-story building; procurement, delivery, and installation of renal facilities, including provision of 108 hemodialysis machines and nine backup hemodialysis machines; operations and maintenance of the project; as well as provision of workforce, such as nurses, dialysis technicians, and administrative staff.
According to the information memorandum on the project prepared by the PPP Center with the DOH and BGHMC, “the private partner may recuperate its investment through revenue sharing with the BGHMC on the PhilHealth (Philippine Health Insurance Corp.) revenue net of mandated professional fees of government employees.”
The private partner will be selected through an open competitive single-stage tender process based on the lowest revenue share (net of PhilHealth-manded professional fees of government employees) without availability payments.
The PPP project, which is one of the administration’s priority infrastructure flagship projects, aims to curb emerging threats to public health.
National Economic and Development Authority Secretary Arsenio Balisacan earlier said the PPP project is vital as chronic kidney disease (CKD) is one of the leading causes of hospitalization and the 10th leading cause of mortality in the country.
Hemodialysis treatment is the most common treatment used for the final stage of CKD.
Based on the indicative timeline for the project, the investor’s conference will be held on Jan.16, 2024, to be followed by the pre-bid conference on March 19, 2024.
Bid submission will be from June to July 2024, while the issuance of notice of award will be in the second week of August 2024.
The bid documents, including the instructions to bidders, the concession agreement term sheet, and the draft concession agreement and schedules will be made available to interested firms for a non-refundable fee of P50,000.