Rama in Manila to ‘beg’ for P1B

CEBU, Philippines - Since P1.5 billion is needed to rebuild the Cebu City Medical Center , Mayor Michael Rama would be appealing to Health Secretary Enrique Ona for the inclusion of P1 billion in the 2015 Department of Health to help fund the city hospital.

Rama is meeting Ona to ask for update on the said amount that was recently endorsed by the Cebu City Development Council  for the construction of a new CCMC.

It was the reason why he left for Manila Thursday afternoon.

“I will never get tired of being a professional beggar for CCMC,” Rama said earlier in a press conference.

CDC endorsed the amount for the construction and expansion of the CCMC after the original structure was severely damaged during the 7.1-magnitude earthquake last Oct.15.

“The City officials see the urgent need to reconstruct the CCMC, where a dialysis center and other medical facilities will be built to continually serve the needs of the indigents’ patients of Cebu City,” read a portion of a CCDC communication.

Further, CCMC Chief of Hospital Gloria Duterte said P50 million worth of medical equipment pledged by the DOH, such as autoclave, mechanical ventilator, among others, were already delivered to the temporary hospital at the nearby Bureau of Fire Protection building .

Depending on the city’s budget, a five-storey, 250-bed capacity CCMC hospital that will be built first, instead of a 10-storey structure. It is seen that the new CCMC hospital would be operational by 2016, or a year earlier than the projected date of operation.

The 10-storey medical facility, which would be built by phases, would have a capacity of 450-500 beds. It will be constructed on a 5,328 square-meter lot and would cost P1.48 billion.

The area of the property, according to CCMC Care movement convenor Dr. Shawn Espina, is wide enough to accommodate the new city-run hospital.— /RHM (FREEMAN)