THE Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center – Center for Behavioral Sciences (VSMMC–CBS) will be constructing a building expansion worth P90 million at the Cebu TB Pavilion on B. Rodriguez St., Cebu City, to serve more patients.
According to VSMMC–CBS head Dr. Rene Obra, the new building can accommodate additional 100 beds, making the total number of beds 200.
At present, the psychiatric ward of VSMMC can only cater up to 100 patients.
According to Obra, the building will occupy the 1,000-square-meter lot of the east wing of Cebu TB Pavilion, which was declared unfit for occupancy by the VSMMC engineering department following the magnitude 7.2 earthquake in 2013.
“We are no longer using the east wing. We will have that portion demolished, then we will construct the new building in its place,” Obra explained.
“We already have our diagram of the building. Whoever the winning bidder for this project will be crafting the final design which will be subject for our approval,” Obra added.
Obra said that with the growing number of persons who involved in substance abuse, the number of individuals having mental health problems is also increasing.
“There are many parents who want to have their drug-dependent children confined here,” Obra said.
According to Obra, almost 50 percent of their patients were admitted due to illegal substance abuse. /USJ-R Journalism Intern Rosalie O. Abatayo