The Davao City-owned hospital has been assesed to serve not only for Dabawenyos but also as a referral medical facility for people from other municipalities that cannot be accommodated by the Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC).
Dr. Evelyno Buenaventura, the co-chairperson of the Technical Working Group (TWG) Secretariat for the Davao City Public Hospital, said the facility has already been assessed by the Department of Health (DoH) through a certificate of need that it can cater people from other municipalities in Davao region.
“Dili siya ingon nga Davao City lang pwede pud siya mo-cater from other municipalities, mahimo siyang referral hospital (It is not only for Davao City but for other municipalities, it will become a referral hospital),” Buenaventura said.
Buenaventura said that the city government will start the site development this year. The city aims to open the hospital as a Level 1 medical facility with specialist departments such as Ob-Gyne, surgery, pediatrics, and a Level 2 laboratory. It will be a hospital that can cater to almost all medical services except high-end procedures.
Buenaventura bared that the design of the floor plan for the city hospital is almost finished while the site development has also started using the Php250 million funds released for the purpose. The hospital will rise on a 3.2-hectare area in Mintal with a the total floor area of 20,000 (combined) square meters.
He added that the city also aims to develop the city hospital into a Level 2 facility in the future. This means it will have a blood bank, dialysis, Intensive Care Unit, and additional services for high-end cases.
Buenaventura said that the city needs to have more specialists to level up its medical care.
He said that the draft ordinance for the creation of 194 plantilla positions for the hospital is under review by the Sangguniang Panlungsod in close coordination with Davao City Human Resources Management Office.
“Based on our Gant Chart we are on time. We are now preparing the site and the floor plan and the preliminaries needed by the DOH for the license to operate,” Buenaventura said.###