BACOLOD City – This city will convert the old office building of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) in Barangay 14 here into a mini-hospital.
The establishment of the proposed health facility is in partnership with the Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital (CLMMRH).
Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez said the budget for the construction will be sourced from the P4.1-billion loan of the city government from the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP).
The regional hospital, for its part, will provide the personnel. The facility is being eyed as an extension of the CLMMRH.
The city mayor said the facility will house outpatient department and emergency room.
At present, the city is currently waiting for the finalization of the agreement from the legal office of the Department of Health (DOH). It will then be endorsed to the City Council for approval.
Meanwhile, Mayor Benitez said the said mini-hospital would also be used by other clustered barangays, including Barangay 12.
This city has an existing ordinance for the creation of a primary health care center here.
The ordinance stated that a primary health care center shall be established in selected barangays that are strategically and geographically situated as to accommodate other nearby barangays.
Councilor Al Victor Espino, author of the said ordinance, said the primary health care centers will help decongest the inflow of patients admitted or treated in public hospitals, particularly in CLMMRH.
The city targets the initial implementation of the ordinance in barangays Vista Alegre (Arao relocation site), Cabug, Mandalagan, and Alijis, and in Reclamation Area./PN
