DAVAO CITY – The city government plans to start the construction of a 100-bed capacity Davao City Hospital this year at the University of the Philippines-Mindanao (UPMin) campus in Tugbok here, 3rd District Councilor Dr. Mary Joselle D. Villafuerte said.
Villafuerte said that they have been working on the draft ordinance for the establishment of the city government-owned Level 3 hospital which is planned to rise in a 3.28-hectare property within the UP Mindanao campus.
She said the city government targets to break the ground for the project within the year. She said the project needs a budget of around P300 million.
Villafuerte said the proposed ordinance will be presented to city council for second reading. An ordinance is necessary to be granted permit to construct the facility, according to Villafuerte.
Once the ordinance is approved, Villafuerte said the local government would apply for financial assistance with the Health Facility Enhance Program (HFEP) of the Department of Health.
She said Mayor Sara Duterte here assured financial support for the construction of the hospital.
Villafuerte said the construction of the city hospital will take a year-and-a-half.
“This is going to be quite a big project because this is a 100-bed hospital and we want it to be a Level 3,” she said.
A Level 3 or tertiary hospital, Villafuerte explained, offers services such as subspecialties surgery, OB-GYN department, and internal medicine; has a fully functional laboratory; and can qualify as a training hospital, among others.
She said the construction of a Level 3 hospital would be a win-win for both the city government and UP Mindanao as the city needs its own healthcare facility for its constituents while the state university needs a hospital to operate a medical school.