The provincial government donated P20 million worth of equipment to augment the intensive care unit (ICU) services of the Carcar City district hospital.
The provincial government and other local governments should sponsor more scholarships for those interested in becoming a doctor to solve the shortage of medical personnel in the countryside.
Visiting Japanese professor Dr. Sam Tabuchi of the Toyo University in Tokyo, Japan, suggested this during last week’s visit to Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III at his Capitol office.
“I suggested to the governor to have a local medical school and scholarships sponsored by local governments to students who want to study medicine but cannot afford to do so,” he said.
This would also entail building a medical school for poor but deserving students, who will then be required to render a decade worth of service in local hospitals in Cebu after graduation, Tabuchi said.
“After 10 years of service, they can work in Manila or Australia to make more money,” Tabuchi said.
He said this would provide the province with a pool of doctors they can hire to serve in their hospitals.
Dr. Tabuchi said the governor gave him updates on the Capitol’s efforts to modernize the provincial hospitals like those in Bogo City which received P230 million to build four additional buildings.
About P20 million worth of medical equipment were also acquired by the province for the first intensive care unit (ICU) at the Cebu Provincial Hospital in Carcar City that was inaugurated last Wednesday.
Dr. Rene Catan, Cebu Provincial Health Office (PHO) chief, said the province hired 1,500 medical personnel for the province’s medical institutions. /Correspondent Jessa Mae O. Sotto