VM Rama suggests putting on hold all bidding for CCMC for now

An artist’s sketch of the new CCMC building whose construction is ongoing. (CDN FILE)

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Cebu City Vice Mayor Michael “Mike” Rama is asking the city’s executive department to temporarily put on hold the bidding of the P500 million budget for the Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC).

In a press conference on Wednesday, July 8, 2020, Rama said he did not approve the plan of the CCMC contractor to hurriedly finish the first three floors of the hospital because the hospital was supposed to be a ten-story building.

He is concerned that the first three floors might not be safe to use if the construction continues in the upper levels.

“It would not be wise. I suggest we put on hold the bidding and we meet first to discuss what is our plan for the CCMC. We planned it to be a Level III hospital,” said Rama. Level III hospitals are those equipped with more specialized laboratories and services like dialysis, ICU, and rehab centers.

The vice mayor also said the city has to review the changes in the plan of the CCMC, especially that under the administration of former Tomas Osmeña from 2016 to 2019, changes may have been made to the original plan.

Read: Cebu City Council approves P1.9 billion supplemental budget

Rama believes that the CCMC construction should stick to the original concept even if it will take longer than expected as the Cebuanos deserve a globally competitive public hospital.

Forcing the hospital to open prematurely may lose the purpose of rebuilding the hospital.

For him, the hospital must live up to the expectations of the public since it has been under construction for over six years.

“We need to talk first what really is our plan for this hospital? I do not agree that we should open those first three floors already,” he said.

CCMC Administrator Yvonne Cania said that they were planning to finish the interior of the first three floors in three months so emergency patients can now be accepted.

The three floors could hold 150 beds, some laboratory equipment such as X-Ray and ultrasound, and other Level I hospital necessities.

Cania said they also looked to finish the three floors in three months so it can be used as a quarantine center for patients of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19).

This did not sit well with the vice mayor, who conceptualized the CCMC plan in 2014 during his term as mayor. For him, the CCMC should operate after it has been completed and ready to serve any patient, not just COVID-19 patients. /bmjo