Zubiri files Senate bill to put up Bacolod hospital amid COVID-19

BACOLOD CITY –– Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri has filed a bill to establish the Bacolod City General Hospital (BCGH) as the country continues to fight the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

“This pandemic has revealed to us how easily our hospitals can get overwhelmed. The fact is, we simply do not have enough hospitals – particularly public hospitals that can deliver accessible and affordable medical care to our people,” said Zubiri, who filed Senate Bill 1647 on Wednesday.

The bill that calls for the establishment of a tertiary general hospital in Bacolod City is the counterpart measure of House Bill No. 6731 authored by Bacolod Rep. Greg Gasataya.

Zubiri said the whole province of Negros Occidental shares only one tertiary government hospital.

“This is unthinkable, given how Bacolod City alone has a population of over half a million people,” he said.

In the 2015 national census, Bacolod City was recorded to have 561,875 residents, making it the most populated city in Western Visayas.

Bacolod’s residents are serviced by the Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital (CLMMRH), which caters to the whole of Negros Occidental, at a 400-bed capacity.

Zubiri pointed out that CLMMRH serves a daily average of 724 patients from the whole province and that it needs to decongest its load to attend to the needs of the growing number of patients.

“The establishment of the BCGH is a partnership between Mayor Bing Leonardia, Cong. Greg Gasataya and I to address this problem in Bacolod City and finally build this hospital for the people of Bacolod City,” Zubiri said.

The senator said this would accomplish two things: provide quality and accessible health care to the residents of Bacolod and keep CLMMRH from being overcrowded since it is already admitting patients about double its bed capacity.

“The people of Bacolod have a right to proper health care services, and I’m with them on that. I am committed not only to push for the passage of this bill but also to make the necessary budget allocations once it passed the legislative gauntlet,” Zubiri said.

LZB