The interim Cebu City Medical Center main building at the former Citom office now houses the pediatric ward which opened yesterday.
(CDN PHOTO/CHRISTIAN MANINGO)
The ramp and other parts of the building are still unfinished but the mood was upbeat among officials and employees during yesterday’s soft opening of the interim Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC) building at N. Bacalso Avenue, Cebu City.
“(This building) is a labor of love. It was painted by the employees themselves,” said Rey Chris Panugaling, CCMC director for administration.
The hospital’s pediatric ward opened at noon. Panugaling said they are still making adjustments. The expanded CCMC can accommodate an additional 100 beds while the obstetrics ward will open this Saturday.
The interim CCMC main building was formerly occupied by the Cebu City Traffic Operations Management (Citom) which transferred to the second floor of the Ramos multi-purpose building in barangay Cogon Ramos.
The city hospital’s annex is located at the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP-7) building also in N. Bacalso Avenue. The main building houses the pediatric ward, obstetrics ward and administration office.
The annex will house the internal medicine and Department of Surgery. With the expansion, the CCMC now has a 150 to 200 bed capacity, which is one of several requirements to raise the hospital’s accreditation to Level 2.
In his speech, Cebu City Mayor Mike Rama pointed out that the expanded CCMC is a temporary-permanent setup.
“CCMC will continue to expand. Anyone blocking this will be my enemy. I can’t allow the poor to be poorer. CCMC will become real,” he said.
Rama said the health complex will include the old Citom building now occupied by the CCMC, the hospital annex, the LTO building and the Citilink Terminal, all on N. Bacalso Avenue.
LTO officials said they are willing to transfer but need the mayor to issue a “notice of transfer with urgency” so the central office will allocate funds for their relocation./With Reporter Jose Santino S. Bunachita