Dream Hospital

Dr. Shawn Espina, lead convenor of Championing the Advancement, Restoration and Establishment of CCMC (Care CCMC) movement with his architect son shows the futuristic-looking CCMC to the media. (CDN PHOTO/ JUNJIE MENDOZA)

A 10-story futuristic-looking healthcare facility with pockets of greenery similar to buildings in Singapore will be the new look of the soon to rise Cebu City Medical Center.

Mayor Michael Rama’s pet project which was placed on a fast-track after the original CCMC building was heavily damaged by the Oct. 15 earthquake is envisioned to become a full-service hospital with specialized treatment units for women’s health, animal bites, cardiology, an eye center, a stroke and a burn unit and intensive care.

The “dream” hospital will also have “religious places” where chapels and prayer rooms are located alongside family counseling rooms.

The final design concept of the new CCMC was presented to Rama and the media by the CCMC ad hoc committee yesterday.

The tab – P1.4 billion.

“This is it. Although there will be modifications, it will not be a deviation of what we wish to accomplish which is a 10-story CCMC. We wish and we will never stop to wish for it. In the interim, we’ll start with a five-story complete and compact hospital,” Rama said.

Councilor Mary Ann delos Santos, who heads the CCMC ad hoc committee echoed Rama’s “This is it,” while saying that the new CCMC building design is a “product of a hand of cooperation and collaboration.”

She said actual construction of the new hospital building will start sometime in July this year.

The new building will be built on the same area where the old CCMC used to stand.

According to Dr. Shawn Espina, lead convenor of Championing the Advancement, Restoration and Establishment of CCMC (Care CCMC) movement, the concept will still incorporate designs of the old building.

The building concept was designed by Espina’s son, Mico, who is an architect. He said the design was done in two weeks.

Espina said they earlier planned to fuse the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) compound together with the old building area which will entail the realignment of a portion of Panganiban St. But the ad hoc committee decided to work on a building design in the same area so as to avoid delaying the construction of the new building.

“The old building design was narrow and awkwardly-shaped,” Dr. Espina said.

“We incorporated design elements from the old building to the new one, especially for the staff who considered it their second home,” said Architect Espina.

The 10-story building will cost P1,481,163,370, excluding the medical equipment and other fixtures.

Computation of the cost for each of the building’s floors as well as its specific rooms and offices were included by the ad hoc committee in their presentation.

“We made the computations for the costing especially for donors, for them to have an idea how much it will cost to sponsor or donate for one whole floor or for the specific areas,” Dr. Espina said.

The lower ground floor will house the parking area, mortuary, maintenance and security office among others. It will have a total floor area of 4,102 square meters and will cost P92.5 million.

An area of 3,504 square meters will be occupied by the Emergency Rooms, Organ Imaging and hospital lobby in the upper ground floor. It costs P191.8 million.

The building will have four elevators for general use while two others will be dedicated as service or freight elevators.

The second floor will cost P162.2 million and will house the out-patient departments with an area of 4,146 square meters. The third floor will house the administrative offices and will cost P166.5 million. The same floor will house a 272-seater conference room and two 70-seater smaller conference rooms on each side.

“Conference rooms are important in hospitals. These can also be used by the public and rented for activities,” Dr. Espina said.

The operating rooms and delivery rooms will be located at the fourth floor with a cost of P195.2 million. The fifth floor will have the special units including the different intensive care units. It will cost P170.7 million.

“This floor can be used for the patients’ rooms for the meantime while waiting for funding for the upper floors,” Dr. Espina said. The floor can hold 95-100 beds.

The remaining four floors from the sixth to the ninth will be the patients’ rooms, the private rooms and the wards as well as nurses stations. These four floors will have a smaller floor area at 3,000 square meters each. Each of the floors will cost P134 million (6th), P128.9 million (7th), and P119.4 million (8th and 9th).

The building design also features several green patches inside and outside the building.
The seventh floor will also have a roof deck and terrace and a garden area. An area of the floors for patients’ rooms will also have a vertical green patch which will run throughout the floors.

According to City Engineer Jose Marie Poblete, they will be working on the procurement and bidding beginning this month until July.

“It’s ambitious but we hope that the hospital building will already rise and be functional on or before 2016,” Delos Santos said.

The Movement for a Livable Cebu (MLC), a part of the Care CCMC Movement, also supported the construction of the new hospital building, while citing a survey that health care is a top priority among Cebuanos.

“Public consultations through focus groups and a survey across several barangays showed healthcare is of utmost importance for Cebu’s citizens,” said MLC lead convenor Marc Canton yesteday.

“Majority of the residents of Cebu City bear this constant worry about affordability of medical care. The long queues in free medical clinics bear evidence of this great need.” he added.
Rama had earlier said it was his “dream to rebuild the CCMC, a people’s hospital.

The City Council had earlier allocated P300 million as initial budget for the construction of the new CCMC building.

The regional office of the Department of Health (DOH-7) has earlier submitted a P1 billion project proposal to the DOH Central Office in Manila to fund the construction of the new hospital. This was revealed in a meeting by the Cebu City Development Council.

Part of Rama’s purpose in travelling to Manila today is to urge Health Secretary Enrique Ona to include the cost of constructing the CCMC in the DOH budget.

Several private entities, government units, and international cities have also started donating for the new hospital building.

A few days after the October 2013 earthquake that hit Cebu and Bohol, City Hall launched the “Piso Mo, Hospital Ko,” a fund-raising drive for the construction of the new CCMC.

According to City Treasurer Diwa Cuevas, the latest count for the fund-raising drive was about P13 million.

Councilor Delos Santos earlier said they expect more donations to pour in after the presentation of the new final design as well as the specific computations for the cost of each floor.

Several private entities like the Operation Smile earlier said they want to sponsor and donate for one whole floor of the hospital building