CCMC second and third floors to accommodate patients on Sept. 18

CCMC upcoming ward. | Dyrecka Letigio

CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC) has opened the second and third floors of their new building in a ceremonious soft opening on August 19, 2021.

Cebu City acting Mayor Michael Rama said this was a “promise delivered” to the residents after he ordered the CCMC’s contractors to complete the two floors by August 9, 2021.

The soft opening was delayed by 10 days due to the installation of utilities, but Rama said he was grateful for the completion of the floors and for the two contractors who delivered their promise to complete the task.

However, the opening of the two floors will not change the operations of the CCMC’s temporary building yet, as patients cannot be accommodated here until Sept. 18, 2021.

“They told me that it will take time to transfer the patients. They said they can do it by Sept. 18, I told them, that is the maximum time for the transfer,” said Rama in a press conference.

CDN Digital visited the site on Wednesday, and found that the second floor has yet to be equipped with pieces of laboratory equipment, toilets and other amenities, and even utilities. The other half of the second floor also remains under construction.

The third floor is nearly completed with the utilities installed and over 20 beds already placed in the respective wards. Only pieces of furniture and medical equipment are left untransferred.

CCMC upcoming ward. | Dyrecka Letigio

This may signify that the third floor ward may be ready for patients sooner than the second floor.

“Actually, this is just a soft opening. Pero sa pagkakaron, di pa gyod nato mabalhin atong non-COVID patients. Hinay-hinay lang mi og transfer sa laboratories, gamit sa operating room,” said Yvonne Feliciano, the administrator of the CCMC.

(Actually, this is just a soft opening. But for now, we cannot yet transfer the non-COVID patients. We are still slowly transferring the laboratories and the equipment for the operating room.)

Once the second and third floors open, this would have a 200-bed capacity for non-COVID-19 patients.

As for the temporary CCMC, just across the street from the new building, once all non-COVID-19 patients are transferred, the entire facility will be transformed into a COVID-19 isolation ward.

The temporary building has a 200 bed-capacity as well, and currently, at least 50 are being occupied by COVID-19 patients.

In order to prepare for the eventual split of the COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 buildings of the CCMC, the administration has amped up the hiring of doctors and nurses.

Feliciano admitted that there had been difficulties in hiring new nurses because many of the fresh graduates feared getting assigned to the COVID-19 wards.

The hospital is hoping for more applicants with the recent oath taking of the new licensed nurses, which means more professionals are about to enter the economy.

Feliciano said she hoped that the medical professionals would take on the challenge as Cebu City would need their services during these trying times.

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