BIÑAN CITY, Laguna – The city government is hoping to boost its healthcare services with the construction of the new building of Ospital ng Biñan (OsBin).
During a project tour on Friday (Feb. 11), Mayor Arman Dimaguila recounted a time in August 2021 when OsBin had to open its parking lot to accommodate patients who had nowhere else to go at the height of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) Delta variant surge.
"Pinilit po ng Ospital ng Biñan dahil marami pong pasyente ang namamatay sa ambulansya, hindi tinatanggap sa mga pribadong hospital, puno na ang mga pampublikong ospital (Ospital ng Biñan tried its best because many patients were dying in ambulances, some could not be accommodated in private hospitals, public hospitals were already full)," Dimaguila said.
"Noon, in-open natin ang ating garahe para 'yung mga may COVID ay doon na muna habang naghihintay ng ospital na malilipatan nila at 'yung gamot naman ay naibibigay din naman natin (That time, we opened our garage so that COVID patients can stay there while waiting for hospital bed availability and we were also able to give them medication)."
The local government unit hopes to accommodate more patients once the new hospital building is done.
The OsBin extension will have a bed capacity of over 200, an Intensive Care Unit (ICU), and a laboratory.