Legazpi hospital nears completion
LEGAZPI CITY --- The ongoing construction of Legazpi City Hospital in Barangay Bitano here is now undergoing final touches for its civil works, according to Mayor Noel Rosal. The city mayor made the announcement during the turn-over of the P43M worth of medical supplies and equipment donated by the World Medical Relief Inc. (WMR) for the use of the soon=to-be-completed city government-operated hospital. Rosal said the hospital is expected to operate on the last quarter of this year with the city’s medical personnel rendering health care services to the city’s indigent patients and those of neighboring municipalities. “The operation of this health facility will help loosen up the highly congested Bicol Regional Training and Teaching Hospital that presently caters to the medical needs of patients from the entire province of Albay and neighboring localities,” he said. The project is within a 3,000-square-meter lot owned by the city government located inside the city’s eight-hectare central business district. The city mayor cited the project as a state-of-the-art public hospital which will be one of the most modern public health facilities that can serve the medical needs of patients in the region. The health facility, classified as level one hospital, will include an operating room with standard equipment complete with the needed sterilization and supplies. “Upon completion of this project, the hospital will have medical equipment that will include a dialysis machine that can be availed at lower rates. It can also offer medical services to less serious cases, simple surgical operations and emergency treatment, among others,” Rosal said. The city hospital was constructed through a counter-parting agreement between the Department of Health (DOH) and the local government unit of Legazpi City with P60M and P20M allocations respectively. As part of the agreement, the city government will shoulder the yearly operational expenses of the hospital which will require at least P50M for salaries and wages of medical practitioners who will manage the hospital’s operation. PIA5/Albay