GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews/13 February) — The city government has released around P73 million for the continuing expansion and upgrading of various vital facilities at the city hospital.
Dr. Benjamin Pagarigan, city hospital chief, said such funding comprise the local government’s allocation for this year for the improvement of the city hospital’s facilities, operations and services.
He said it covers the construction of the hospital’s drainage and wastewater treatment facility and the rehabilitation and expansion of its watcher’s area, motor pool, laundry and dietary sections.
Pagarigan said the preparatory works have already started for some project components that had been identified as among the top priorities.
“We’re targeting the full completion of all lined up projects by November or before the end of the year,” he said in an interview over Brigada News TV.
Pagarigan said they pushed for the funding and implementation of the projects to facilitate their bid to upgrade the city hospital’s classification as a Level II or tertiary facility.
He said they identified the projects based on the regulations and standards set by the Department of Health (DOH) for the operationalization of a Level II hospital.
Based on the DOH’s classification standards, a Level II hospital should have completed the basic requirements for a secondary level facility; have departmentalized clinical services; and, operational respiratory unit, general intensive care unit, high risk pregnancy unit, neonatal intensive care unit, tertiary clinical laboratory, blood station and a second level x-ray with mobile unit.
“We’re continuously improving our facilities and operations to enable us to deliver the best services to our clients,” Pagarigan said.
City Mayor Ronnel Rivera earlier said the city government will continue with the upgrading of the city hospital, which is operating as a city economic enterprise.
He said they will specifically push for the expansion of the facility’s bed capacity to cope with the rising demand for hospital and related health services in the area.
Local government records listed the city hospital as a 100-bed secondary facility, but it is actually operating with 150 to 180 beds due to its increasing number of patients.
The hospital caters to residents of the city and the neighboring municipalities in Sarangani and South Cotabato provinces.
Late last year, the DOH released a P6 million grant to the city government to assist the hospitalization and other medical needs of poor residents in the city.
In the last three years, the DOH has already released around P144 million in grants for the improvement of the city hospital.
Such amount was used to procure various modern hospital equipment as well as fund the repair, rehabilitation and expansion of its essential facilities.
In 2014, the city government secured a P67 million grant for the hospital under the DOH’s Health Facilities Enhancement Program. (MindaNews)