DOST taps Korean firm for making hospital beds

CEBU, Philippines - A technology that will make the country capable of producing quality hospital beds, eyed for eventual exportation.

This is the aim of the latest project of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST)-Central Visayas, through the Philippine Medical Support Research Development (PMSRD), that tapped the Korean hospital bed production technology of Taedong Prime.

“The intention is to transfer technology to develop hospital bed production. The goal is to come up with 100 percent localization of raw materials. This way, we can have quality hospital bed at a much lower price,” DOST-7 OIC regional director Edilberto Paradela said.

Paradela added that a 40-day training for 40 local technicians will start later this month.

“Training was supposed to start first week of November. We have already conducted initial background but due to natural calamities, it was postponed,” he said.

The memorandum of agreement signed in November specified that the first batch of trainees will be compensated with P300 per day.

Further, trainees also signed retainers’ contracts bounding them to stay and work in the Philippines for a certain period before allowing them to work abroad.

The program has five stages of implementation, namely; welding and assembly, electronic powder coating, press/bending/cutting offset machine, plastic molding and plastic products, R&D and Design Center.

Paradela’s predecessor, the late regional director Rene Burt Llanto arranged for this project when he proposed it before a national meeting with the Department of Health (DOH), Commission on Higher  Education (CHEd) and the Philippine Council for Health Research of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST-PCHRD). — (FREEMAN)