New CCMC yet to operate a month after inauguration

CEBU, Philippines —  A month after the Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC) was inaugurated and officials said it was to already operate its out-patient department, the new hospital building remains a construction site with no level currently in operation.

On the ground floor, which was announced as the site of the OPD, works were still ongoing as of Wednesday, Jan. 27.

Mayor Edgardo Labella, in his speech during the CCMC building’s inauguration last Dec. 28, announced that the OPD would already be open the following day. Although the mayor clarified that the department would not be fully done at the time then, he said it could at least start functioning.

The FREEMAN had learned that the hospital that time was not yet granted permit to operate or partially operate pending the issuance of an occupancy permit from the Office of the Building Official. It would be learned later that the permit was already in the works.

OBO chief Archt. Florante Catalan did not respond to requests for comment yesterday.

During the inauguration, the interior section of the supposed OPD was off-limits to members of the media. A source, however, said there was nothing finished that time, although there were already “partitions.”

But Cebu City administrator Atty. Floro Casas, when asked for updates on the new building yesterday, said the OPD is already operational, adding that the city targets the rest of the first three floors to be up and running by next month.

“OPD, yes, ongoing naman ang atong OPD but ang atong target, ang target man gud ni Mayor (is) ang tanang CCMC nga karaan, ma-transfer na kana nato as soon as possible. (We’re) looking at next month nga maka-transfer na gyud sila tanan,” Casas said.

“Ongoing ron ang atong pagtrabaho sa CCMC. I think as of now, naa na sila sa process sa installation sa mga equipment nato,” he added.

However, when The FREEMAN went to check the “operational” new OPD, a guard on duty at the construction site pointed to the old building near the Bureau of Fire Protection as the OPD's present location. No doctors, nurses and other medical frontliners were seen on the ground floor of the new building, only construction workers.

Labella earlier said his administration aims to finish the entire structure in the next 18 months or basically before the next elections. However, he did not specify whether he meant the 10-floor building as what Vice Mayor Michael Rama wants based on the original design, or just seven floors as what it is right now.

The new CCMC is a brainchild of Rama back when he was still the mayor. The old building was demolished in 2014 following the cracks it sustained from the 2013 earthquake.

Construction started the following year but it remained unfinished until Rama lost to Tomas Osmeña in 2016.

When Labella ran and eventually won the mayorship in 2019, completing the hospital was among his campaign promises.

Under the plan, the other floors of the new CCMC will house a section for MRI, digital x-ray, CT scan, wards, operating room, as well as a dialysis center, among others. — Mary Ruth R. Malinao, JMD (FREEMAN)