TABUK CITY – The city government and the Kalinga provincial government have joined hands to finish the construction of the Gabriella Mejia Kim Medical Center (GMKMC) in Barangay Agbannawag here.
A memorandum of agreement to between them to complete the medical facility is being studied .
The provincial government owns and operates the GMKMC, and has plans to complete its construction, but is hampered by lack of funds.
Mayor Darwin Estrañero here said that the details of the partnership are being worked out and the city is also studying the source of funding.
He said the provincial government proposed that the city shoulder the bulk of the estimated P200 million to complete the facility.
The partnership was carried out in a joint session last August 3 at the Sangguniang Panlalawigan session hall, with the Sangguniang Panlungsod and their provincial counterpart giving authority to Estrañero and Gov. James Edduba to make the memorandum of agreement.
The plan is to finish building the hospital and expand its bed capacity to act as a reliever of the Kalinga Provincial Hospital here which is regularly overwhelmed with patients.
The partnership is seen as mutually beneficial to the city and the province, considering the majority of GMKMC patients are residents here.
Baac said the city government will also get a return on investment with a proposed 50-50 share in the hospital's revenues.
The provincial government will release a 20 percent counterpart fund and shoulder operation and manpower costs.
Baac said the provincial government is also open to turning over ownership of the hospital to the city government should the latter request it in the future.
He added that the provincial government is facing an approximately P300-million reduction in its national tax allotment for 2023.