TABUK CITY, Kalinga – The local government is waiting for the issuance of the certificate of need by the health department to justify the proposed construction of a 250-bed city-owned hospital to further enhance the delivery of health care services to the increasing populace.
Mayor Darwin C. Estran֮ero disclosed that city officials and health authorities are keeping their fingers crossed that the health department will issue this certificate as a basis on how the city can proceed with the noble project to enhance the quality of health care services for the people.
Earlier, the city government planned to put up a city-owned hospital within a 5-hectare property to help improve the delivery of health care services to the increasing number of inhabitants.
Under existing guidelines governing the operation of hospitals, the hospital-to-bed ratio is 1:800.
The local chief executive pointed out that the proposal for the city to put up its own hospital is part of the city government’s comprehensive master development plan as the city is being groomed by the Regional Development Council (RDC) in the Cordillera as the future growth center of the region.
According to him, the ongoing Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic opened the urgent need for sufficient health care facilities with quality health care services thus the local government decided to prioritize the construction of a city-owned and managed hospital.
The initial projected cost of the project was around P800 million to include the procurement of state-of-the-art units of medical equipment for the medical treatment needs of patients.
The mayor stipulated that the city government is studying alternative options if the issuance of the certificate of need will encounter some issues and concerns with the regulatory agency so that the city.
Aside from the proposed construction of the city-owned hospital, Tabuk showed the way in the effective and efficient management of the ongoing pandemic with the put up of its own molecular laboratory for the performance of reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test needs of the suspected and probable COVID cases not only from the city but also from the province and other neighboring communities, and the set-up 100-bed modern zone-type isolation facility.
Estran֮ero revealed that the city is also considering improving the city’s sewerage system to prevent the unabated dumping of waste water on the various river systems that could cause uncontrolled pollution in the future to help in preserving and protecting the city’s good state of the environment.
By HENT
