No takers no money

Once again, a reader reached out to give me a scoop regarding an ongoing PPP or public-private partnership project between realty developer DRK and the NKTI or the National Kidney Transplant Institute.

While fact checking, I came across the original announcement on the NKTI Facebook page:

“National Kidney and Transplant Institute (NKTI), the country’s leading tertiary medical specialty center specializing in the prevention, diagnosis, rehabilitation and treatment of kidney and allied diseases, held the groundbreaking ceremony of its proposed Medical Arts Building (MAB) today, Feb. 24, 2020.

“The proposed MAB is a 10-storey building with multilevel parking facilities and a helipad. It is situated on a 2,500-square meter portion of land inside the NKTI compound. The new building will offer affordable clinic spaces to doctors and other medical professionals practicing in NKTI and will provide higher quality and more spacious facilities for patients.

“At present, there are 438 active and visiting medical consultants at NKTI. It will also house a dormitory for NKTI staff as well as commercial spaces for rent. The construction, operation, maintenance and management of the new MAB has been awarded to a private company, DRK Realty and Development, in joint partnership with R-II Builders Inc.”

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The press release was very positive and promising but five years later, the reality is very disappointing and complicated, as claimed by our reader, which I confirmed from another source:

“NKTI is building a new doctors’ clinic building (MAB) so that the old doctors’ clinic can be converted to patients’ rooms and dialysis extension.

“The building was bidded to a company named DRK. NKTI will provide the land and DRK will build the building. DRK will be able to hold the rights to charge rent for the doctors and tenants for 20 years while NKTI will charge lease for the property.

“Apparently, DRK does not have the money to build the building. They were relying on the doctors’ money to purchase or rent their clinic space in advance so that they can use the doctors’ money to build the clinic. No doctors are buying or purchasing. Just a very few.

“Also, this is a government hospital renting out a government property. So why are doctors working for the hospital being charged rent to hold clinic there? Weird.

“The clinics should have been finished 2023 pa. And NKTI should be charging them rent na. But until now building not finished. Shell lang. DRK not paying the rent it owes to NKTI. Pinagbigyan nila DRK. Not to pay rent muna. Until now they are still asking money from the doctors. Wala pa rin pera. They are saying meron daw.

“Dra. Rose Marie Liquete, medical director; Dra. Romina Danguilan, medical specialist head, and Dr. Jaro are all the people involved in this project and bidding.

“Sec. 7 says: ‘The heads of agency intending to rent privately-owned buildings or spaces for their use, or to lease out government-owned buildings or spaces for private use, shall have authority to determine the reasonableness of the terms of the lease and the rental rates thereof, and to enter into such lease contracts without need of prior approval by higher authorities…’

“Doctors are wondering why it is DRK who is determining the amount of lease or rent. Dapat it is NKTI.”

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From what I gathered, there are six floors of potential parking spaces that are badly needed and can be used by doctors and patients. However, this is not allowed until the necessary LGU clearances and permits are acquired by DRK. So for now, only DRK personnel and suppliers are given access.

Another challenge is that the elevators intended for use in the building are still in shipping boxes, if that is what the word “LIFT” refers to. Otherwise, people will have to walk up the 10 floors or, as one chat suggested, have a driver.

NKTI doctors and staff are now engaged in a “pitching contest” of sorts, suggesting how to fast track the use of the building or repurposing the structure if DRK can’t finish the project because there are “No Takers” among many of the doctors working at NKTI.

One suggestion is “turn the building into hospital extension. Use the 7th to 10th floors for patients’ rooms instead of selling unit space for doctors’ clinics. That will make so many rooms available, and they will all be filled because of the great lack of private rooms. This will end the long lines and waiting at the admitting desk of NKTI.”

Another suggestion is “to convert the 10th floor into a presidential suite for VIP patients.” A more inclusive suggestion is to use it as a “hospitel” for staff and residents that can still generate income for NKTI.

A more urgent and serious concern is improvement of operating rooms and for DRK to finish the project in order for NKTI to set up modular ORs with robotics installed.

Meanwhile, questions are being raised regarding reports that DRK is tapping a “foreign investor” under a sublease agreement. If this delay goes on any longer, chances are the authorities will be demanding a full disclosure on who and what the terms will be.

To be fair to NKTI, they are not the first to get stuck with such a situation. During COVID, a couple of government agencies ended up with “white elephants” and when projects resumed, the costs nearly doubled. It would be to the benefit of NKTI and DRK to come clean and perhaps find a “White Knight” to save the day before the “Black Knights” in Congress start investigating!