Province to upgrade at least 3 hospitals

CEBU, Philippines - Cebu Governor Hilario Davide III yesterday announced that the province is working on upgrading three of its hospitals to Level One this year.

Davide said he has met with people concerned, one of whom is the head of the Carcar Provincial Hospital.

“I emphasized to them nga ma-upgrade gyud, ma-level  one kay primary pa man gud ang sa provincial hospital sa Carcar as well as other district hospitals in the province (I emphasized to them that we must upgrade to level one because the hospital in Carcar, as well as other district hospitals in the province, are still in the primary level),” he said.

Aside from the Carcar Provincial Hospital, the district hospitals in Tuburan, Badian, and Danao are also on the priority list.

Davide said the pro-vince has already set aside at least P6 million for the purchase of X-ray machines. A “substantial amount” has also been earmarked for other expenses such as for the upgrading of operating rooms. 

The goal to have Level One hospitals in Cebu stemmed from Davide’s recent visit to Pangasinan. Davide admitted he was impressed by the provincial hospital there because it has its own functional operating rooms complete with surgeons, pediatric departments, and others not found in province-run hospitals here.

He said that while Cebu’s public hospitals have their own ORs, they don’t have their own surgeons – not even air-conditioning units.

“We have ORs but dili magamit kay we don’t have surgeons (We have ORs but they’re not functional because we don’t have surgeons),” he said.

Davide assured the province will “correct” these shortcomings.

Aside from purchasing equipment, Davide said the province will also hire specialized doctors and surgeons to work full-time in provincial hospitals.

Davide said he does not see hiring specialized doctors as a problem, as long as they will be given a good compensation package just like in Pangasinan. — (FREEMAN)