Tom eyes ER head as CCMC director

CEBU, Philippines - Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña plans changes at the Cebu City Medical Center this year and he wants to start from the top.

This as the mayor revealed that he wants to kick out hospital chief Myrna Go and replace her with Dr. Edgar Abelgas, who got Osmeña’s fancy for his effective management of CCMC’s emergency room the past several months.

The mayor said he can relieve Go from her post anytime he wants, because the latter is only an officer-in-charge (OIC) for the city-run hospital.

Designated CCMC administrator Rene Sanapo confirmed that many of the patients admired Abelgas, because he succeeded in improving the services of the hospital’s emergency room.

Abelgas, meanwhile, is very willing to accept the challenge for him to lead the 500 doctors, nurses and other employees if Osmeña will give him the chance to prove himself.

This latest development gives Osmeña some hope and he may reconsider his plan of closing down the 48-year CCMC or selling it.

Sanapo told Osmeña yesterday that Abelgas has recommended that instead of keeping the medicine that are intended for the emergency room at the hospital’s supply room, it should be kept at the ER’s stockroom so it can be used immediately when needed.

“Magkinahanglan ta og supply room nga para lang g’yod sa ER kay mao kini ang girekomendar ni Dr. Abelgas nga makapalambo sa serbisyo sa CCMC,” Sanapo said when he was called up by Osmeña at his office yesterday.

The mayor earlier announced plans to close down the CCMC and to sell it because he is already fed up of the numerous complaints about the bad performance of the hospital personnel.

The city allocates P140 million for the hospital expenses every year, but only P14 million of the amount is intended for medicine because more than P100 million of the budget is meant for personnel services or the salaries of the staff.

The mayor plans to spend the hospital budget either for outsourcing the medical services for the urban poor families or to enroll them with the Philippine Health Insurance hoping that they can get better services from private hospitals.

But some city residents are afraid that Osmeña’s plan would be disadvantageous to them because even if they are PhilHealth card holders they still need to pay deposits if they want to be confined in private hospital.

The 52-year old Abelgas graduated from the Gullas College of Medicine in 1988 and passed the board the following year, then he earned a Master of Public Health at U.P.-Manila in 1993.

He also used to be an ex-officio member of the Cebu City Council in 1976 to 1980 being the president of Kabataang Barangay, now Sanguniang Kabataan. — /NLQ   (FREEMAN NEWS)