CCMC construction to start in October

CEBU, Philippines - The construction of a modern Cebu City Medical Center will start in October.

Councilor Mary Ann Delos Santos, who heads the CCMC ad hoc committee, yesterday made the announcement. She said the construction would immediately start once all the technical details of the hospital design and the bidding, which would last a month, are done.

The city and barangay officials, department heads, private sectors, and medical experts led yesterday’s ceremonial capsule-laying for the rebuilding of CCMC. The new hospital building will rise on the 500-square-meter property located at the corner of N. Bacalso Ave. and Panganiban St.

Delos Santos said the P300-million supplemental budget that the City Council has approved and the P15 million proceeds from the “Piso Mo Hospital Ko” fund drive will be utilized as seed money to begin the construction. 

The new 10-storey hospital which would cost P1.5 billion will be built by phases.

Delos Santos said the first five-storey of the hospital building would be operational by 2016, a year earlier than the projected date of operation.

 “I’m positive this (hospital) will rise, we will finish this on or before 2016. The city is very positive and confident with lot of pledges and the appropriations for the incoming annual budget. CCMC will rise from ashes to phoenix, nothing is really impossible,” she said.

 Mayor Michael Rama, on the other hand, thanked those who extended help to CCMC through donations and campaigns.

 “I have faith to all those who took the challenge. We will make the lives of the poor become better, rich comfortable…,” Rama said.

  “We should not shortcut this one because this is a P1.5 billion project. Under our watch transparency and accountability is guaranteed mao di ko ganahan ma shortcut,” delos Santos said.

 She said that City Engineer Jose Marie Poblete has already set a meeting with the architects to address the ‘piecemeal and the missing link” on the detailed architectural design within 30-days period.

 The hospital building design was made by Espina-Perez-Espina and Associates led by Architect Maxwell Espina.

 Design 

Architect Mico Espina, who made the site development plan, said the design has a “splash of modernism.”

“The design elements were taken from the old CCMC building incorporated in the façade to inculcate a feeling of familiarity among users especially the staff who considered it as their second home. This is paying tribute to the old CCMC,” Espina said.

 The hospital plan features hanging garden; spacious conference and function rooms; parking areas situated at the hospital’s ground and upper floors;  modernized emergency medical services, security office, mortuary, commercial spaces, supply storage, housekeeping, workshops, chapel, among others. 

 More funding

 The executive department is planning to either pass a supplemental budget or include in the 2015 annual appropriation additional amount to help augment the funds for the reconstruction.

“Three hundred million pesos is good enough. But perhaps we can come up with a supplemental budget or this will be part and parcel of the general appropriations for 2015 which is between P300 to P500 million considering CCMC is not the only service of the city,” Delos Santos said.

 SM Prime Holdings Inc. has also pledged to shoulder the second or third floor of the hospital amounting to P146 million while the Operation Smile, a non-profit medical organization, will finance the construction of one whole wing.—(FREEMAN)