For retirement village project: Cebu Doc in talks with Naga lot owners

Cebu Doctors Hospital Inc.,(CDHI) is currently negotiating with different lot owners in Naga for the establishment of an integrated retirement village facility.

In an interview with CDHI chairman Potenciano Larrazabal, Jr., he said that the company is looking at five years time to complete the entire plan, which will utilize the Cebu Doctors' South General Hospital as the medical component of the retirement village, with its 250-bed capacity.

In the last few years, Cebu Doctors Hospital invested close to a billion pesos to create a network of hospital facilities in Metro Cebu, including the North General Hospital, the South General Hospital, and its support facility the establishment of Cebu Doctors University in North Reclamation Area.

He said the company has not entertained the entry of partners to the multi-million pesos retirement village facility project.

Last year, Larrazabal said that the company has started to explore around the world in a benchmarking travel, especially in Thailand to see the facilities that attracted the medical tourism in that country.

Larrazabal strongly believes that the future is into healthcare sector, as people are becoming health conscious, while aging population around the world are looking for good sites for retirement, at the same time availing of good healthcare facilities and services.

Cebu, despite having the potential to attract the medical tourism market, or the retirees from all over the world, what impedes these multi-million dollar tourists from coming to Cebu is the absence of "legitimate" facility for medical tourists.

As of this moment, Larrazabal said he cannot determine the size of the upcoming CDHI retirement village, as the company is still on the negotiation stage with the lot owners with properties near the South General Hospital.

Certainly, he said after CDHI will be able to close deal with few lot owners, the project will have to start.

The Board of Investments (BOI) requires that a retirement village should be a large tract of land suitable for development that will ensure healthful, safe and environmentally-sound community life.

The village should be under a unified and continuous management.

And it should be readily accessible by air, land or water transport.

BOI also requires that a retirement village shall not be less than four hectares of contiguous land, and project cost must be at least US$1 million.

Despite the huge potential of Cebu to attract foreign retirees to settle here, there is no retirement facility yet being built in Cebu, aside from the 1.5 hectare sea-side retirement village A.C. Enclave Resort Homes, in Tabongon town, northern Cebu.