The Board of Investments (BOI) has approved the P603 million general hospital project of Cagayan United Doctors Medical Center (CUDMC) to augment the high demand for hospital capacity in Region.

The general hospital level 2 CUDMC, located in Tuguegarao City, is a five-story hospital that will cater to the people not just in Cagayan province but also those from upper Isabela and neighboring Kalinga-Apayao areas.

With its laboratory and diagnostic services, the hospital will be offering extensive, comprehensive, and specialized healthcare.

CUDMC has 18 critical care unit beds with a five-bed intermediate care unit, the province’s first. It will also have eight negative pressure isolation rooms, a laminar flow system operating room, and a healing garden.

The hospital is also expected to employ some 652 people. For the first four years of commercial operation, it is projected to generate about 514 jobs and will infuse P75 million contribution to household income.

Moreover, the company assures that the hospital will be well-equipped in the face of the lingering pandemic, as it aims at investing in digital health and digital health technologies such as computing platforms, connectivity, healthcare software solutions, or health information technology, among others.

Under the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (CREATE) Act and the current Investment Priorities Plan (IPP), the hospital can avail of lower income taxes and applicable investment incentives as the project falls under the Healthcare and Disaster Risk Reduction Management Services.

In approving the project, BOI Managing Head Ceferino S. Rodolfo cited the timeliness of the project in light of the limited hospital capacity in Region II.

Rodolfo said the CUDMC hospital project is part of the government and private sector’s goal to expand and develop new hospitals and other healthcare facilities, paving the way for the emergence of new value chains in the healthcare ecosystem.

“Gains of such undertaking are doubling investments in the area of medical equipment and devices, manufacturing of medical supplies and pharmaceuticals, Research & Development, life sciences, and innovation,” said Rodolfo.

Based on the recent data from the Department of Health (DOH), the Cagayan Valley region has recorded a 78.8 percent occupancy rate for COVID-19 patients, and with the approved project, 100 beds will be added in the region adhering to the DOH requirement for Hospital Licensing under Level 2.

The DOH added that Cagayan has a bed-population ratio of one bed for every 864 people, which is below par compared to the agency’s target of one bed for every 800 people, while the World Health Organization’s ideal ratio is one bed for every 200 people.