Vice Mayor J. Melchor Quitain who represents Mayor Sebastian Duterte, UP President Danilo Concepcion, UP Mindanao Chancellor Lyre Anni Murao, and city councilors on Monday (Dec. 19), broke ground for the Davao City Public Hospital (DCPH) project.
Also attending the event were other UP officials and city department heads.
The DCPH project which is in partnership with UP Mindanao has a budget of P1.750 billion that will be built on a 3.2-hectare development site within the UP Mindanao campus.
The City Information Office (CIO) in its report said that the project has secured a P1.5 billion budget from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) and another P250 million from the city’s coffers.
Under the “Davao City Hospital Ordinance,” which had been approved by the city council in May 2021, the DCPH will gradually expand to become a Level III training hospital which will 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.
Quitain said that with the rapid growth of the city as a central metropolis in the region, a new public hospital is very much needed to deliver timely and efficient public health services.
Quitain, who reads Duterte’s message, said 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.
Concepcion, meanwhile, 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.
Photos from Davao City Government