‘Full house’ Sotto hospital accepts displaced city patients

With the closure of the quake-damaged Cebu city government hospital, where can the the city’s poor go?

“We are expecting more patients coming here,” Dr. Gerardo Aquino, hospital director of the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center in Cebu CIty.

VSMMC had to convert the outpatient department into an adult ward to make room because its own 80-bed ward for non-communicable disease was damaged by Tuesday’s earthquake.

VSMMC, an 800-bed hospital, was filled beyond capacity with 1,013 patients yesterday.

They included 93 people who were hurt in the earthquake-spawned stampede in Pinamungajan town last Tuesday.

Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama earlier announced that the 45-year-old CCMC building, would be demolished because of quake damage.

Rep. Raul del Mar of Cebu City’s north district said the mayor should seek a second opinion. The three-story structure was built between 1965 to 1968 under the administration of Mayor Sergio Osmeña Jr.

Del Mar said that repairing the structure was more economical than building a new one and that it was better to spend funds for acquiring new hospital equipment.

“But I am not saying that I am against the construction of a new hospital.  A new one is always a better option but much more expensive,” said del Mar.

Rama had patients evacuated across the street to the Bureau of Fire and Penology (BFP) building as a temporary setup to attend to outpatient needand said he wants the BFP regional office transferred to the Cebu City Sports Center and the city fire department relocated to the Parian substation.

But Chief Supt. Carlito Romero of the BFP national headquarters issued an October 17-memorandum directing BFP 7 and city fire department “to stay on your post and continue to perform your duties and responsibilities as firefighters until further advice from the Office of the Secretary of Interior and Local Government (SILG) upon proper consultation.”

Karlo Cruz, BFP 7 chief legal officer, told reporters that only a written order from DILG will make them vacate their offices.  Both the BFP 7 and the city fire department occupy a city-owned lot.

SM donation

SM Prime Holdings president Hans Sy handed Rama yesterday afternoon a P5 million check to help the city’s post-earthquake operations. He gave a similar P5 million check to Gov. Hilario Davide III at the Capitol.

Sy said he wants the money spent on relief foro affected families, clearing operations and the rehabilitating of affected areas.

Mayor Rama told Sy that he wants to spend the money to reconstruct the CCMC.

“I want this to be the start of a fundraising effort and hope that the rest will follow for a new CCMC,” he said.

The city government, Rama said, would need at least P1 billion for a new and a better equipped hospital.

Del Mar said that he too is prepared to make representations with the National Government to help in the CCMC reconstruction project.

As of yesterday,  43 CCMC patients remained in the makeshift wards. This includes 7 infants, one senior citizen and other patients aged 2 to 59 years old.

Six were transferred to private hospitals in the city.

As of noontime yesterday, at least 11 Cebu City residents were admitted at VSMMC.

Del Mar visited VSMMC yesterday morning to check how prepared the hospital is in accommodating more city residents. Aquino showed him ongoing works at their non-communicable ward where he hopes repair work will be completed next week.