Groups buck plan to transfer children’s hospital

MANILA, Philippines - Civil society organizations and employees of the Philippine Children’s Medical Center (PCMC) in Quezon City have formed an alliance amid reports of plans to relocate the hospital to the compound of the nearby Lung Center of the Philippines.

“Let’s develop this facility to make it more modern and responsive to the needs of the Filipino children,” PCMC deputy director for hospital support service Jara Corazon Enera said in Filipino during a press conference yesterday.

She and other PCMC administrators and officials joined child welfare group Akap Bata during the launch of the #SavePCMC Alliance, which called on government officials to stop the plans to relocate the hospital.

Enera said that Department of Health (DOH) Secretary Enrique Ona informed them on March 28 that among the options that are being looked into as regards to the development of the hospital is its transfer to the Lung Center of the Philippines.

PCMC currently sits on a 3.7-hectare property of the National Housing Authority (NHA) at the corner of Quezon Avenue and Agham Road.

“We asked him (Ona) if they will give PCMC 3.7 hectares in Lung Center. He did not answer. He just said they will build a high-rise building,” said Enera.

But the PCMC official disputed the construction of a high-rise building, saying it is not advisable as it would be difficult to evacuate the patients in cases of emergency.

Donate, not purchase

Meanwhile, more than 8,600 people have signed an online petition started by Violete de Guzman on www.change.org asking the government and the NHA not to evict the PCMC and instead issue a deed of donation of the property in favor of the hospital.

The petition noted that the hospital, particularly its pediatric cancer and hematology center, has “been a boon to children with cancer, and their families who otherwise could not afford the necessary care and treatment.”