CFI ward with 20 aircon private rooms opened in VSMMC

CEBU, Philippines - The Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center has reached another milestone in its 100 years of existence as it opened the CFI Ward yesterday.

The two-storey ward, which has 20-airconditioned private rooms, was constructed by the Cebu CFI Community Cooperative at the back of the main building of VSMMC.

CFI founding chairman, retired Judge Esperanza Garcia, with her husband, former Deputy House Speaker Pablo Garcia and VSMMC medical director, Dr. Gerardo Aquino, led the inauguration and formal turnover of the building.

Esperanza explained that while coop members paid P3,300 per year for health care program, the P60,000 coverage is not enough to pay major operations in private hospitals.

This prompted her to think of availing the “world-class doctors and facilities” at VSMMC.

She said that what is lacking at VSMMC is the accommodation prompting them to forge a partnership in constructing the building on a vacant lot.

Aquino said that the building is another marker of collaborative partnership working towards a common goal that is making quality but affordable health care truly accessible to the people.

He is grateful to the CFI members for the patience and perseverance in working with them from the planning to the project implementation.

Aquino said that it is a true public-private partnership which is “somehow out of the box” because the government usually takes care of its own resources.

“Many things can happen if we join hands and come with a common goal,” Aquino said.

Members of the CFI are prioritized to avail the rooms when admitted at VSMMC although the facility can also be availed by other patients, said Alma Jaranilla, the vice-chairman of the CFI Coop.

Jaranilla said that it is up to VSMMC to fix the room rate and other charges but CFI members have the lower rates.

Maricon Esparagoza, the chief administrative officer of VSMMC, said that they cannot yet determine the rate that will be charged to CFI members but the existing rate is P1,200 per day in a private room.

She stressed that CFI members have nothing to worry since their expenses are taken cared by the coop.

The CFI has spent around P16 million for the building, air-conditioning units, lighting and other fixtures while the VSMMC provided the beds. — (FREEMAN)