THE CITY government in partnership with the University of the Philippines (UP) Mindanao held the groundbreaking ceremony of the Davao City Public Hospital (DCPH) at campus grounds in Bago Oshiro, Mintal on Dec. 20.
The hospital, which has secured a P1.5 billion budget from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) and another P250 million from the city’s coffers, will be built on a 3.2-hectare development site.
Vice Mayor J Melchor Quitain, UP president Danilo Concepcion, UP Mindanao chancellor Lyre Anni Murao, city councilors, other school officials, and city department heads attended the groundbreaking event.
Under the “Davao City Hospital Ordinance,” approved by the city council in May 2021, the DCPH will gradually expand to become a Level III training hospital to offer Internal Medicine, Pediatrics, Obstetrics-Gynecology (Ob-Gyne), and Surgery.
The hospital will also include emergency, outpatient and laboratory services as well as Respiratory, Intensive Care, Neonatal Intensive Care, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, and Isolation units.
Concepcion, in his speech, said the project is among the biggest investments the city government can make for its people as the necessity of good healthcare cannot be overstated.
Quitain said that with the rapid growth of Davao City as a central metropolis in the region, a new public hospital is very much needed to deliver timely and efficient public health services.
The vice mayor, reading city mayor Sebastian Duterte’s speech, added that by increasing “the number of medical practitioners here in Mindanao,” the new hospital will be “strengthening our health sector” which will ultimately improve the overall quality of healthcare in the region.
