Civic groups, Cebu doctors favor bigger city hospital

“Sell the land and build a bigger public hospital for Cebuanos– we’ll help you.”
Responding to the call of Mayor Michael Rama, a newly-formed group of Cebuano professionals in the medical, business and academic sector, offered to help raise funds for a 1,000-bed government hospital and even design it.
Dr. Shawn Espina, surgeon and lead convenor of CARE (Championing the Advancement, Restoration and Establishment) CCMC Movement, wrote the mayor on October 30 with their offer.
“We do this in the spirit of our conviction that healthcare is universal for all of our citizens,” he wrote.
Espina said they were  moved by the mayor’s statement on his 58th birthday last week that construction of a new CCMC building was his birthday and Christmas wish after the 300-bed city hospital building was closed due to damage from the Oct. 15 earthquake.
Mayor Rama said he was happy to receive the offer and would study it even as City Hall continues to set up temporary wards in the fire station headquarters across the street and conduct a “Piso ko, Hospital mo” donation drive to raise P1.5 billion for the project.
Espina’s group outlined steps in their unsolicited proposal.
First, the city should let go of the CCMC’s “very crowded” 1.2 hectare lot along N. Bacalso Avenue to find a better location with ample parking.
Selling the land for about P500 million would move the city closer to the mayor’s target of P1.5 billion. After the city identifies a three-hectare lot for the project, then architectural designs can be started, said Espina.
Third, Espina asked for a copy of CCMC’s latest balance sheet and a breakdown of its fund sources.
Lastly, he said P500,000 is needed to conduct a feasibility study for a 1,000 bed-hospital. The study can be prepared by private firms like Ernst & Young or KPMG, which Sabino Dapat of SR Dapat and Co. has offered to vet on their behalf.
CARE CCMC was formed about two weeks  ago by “Cebuanos and Cebuano at heart” eager to help build a new city hospital at par with private hospitals, Espina said.
The group also commended the support shown by Councilor Margot Osmeña, who earlier said P103 million in  calamity funds from 2012 could be immediately tapped to start construction of a new hospital or to retrofit the existing structure.
“This is the kind of bipartisan cooperation that we citizens applaud.  It fuels fire even more in our commitment to making this new hospital a reality,” Espina said.
CARE already opened a bank account under the Gift of Life Foundation of the Cebu City Rotary West to receive donations.
Its board of convenors include Lito Maderazo, president of the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry;  Liza Corro,  dean of the University of the Philippines – Cebu;  Dr. Wyben Briones, president of AMRO; Antonio Florendo, past district governor of Rotary District 3680; Consul Robert Lim Joseph and Marc Canton, lead convenor of the Movement for Livable Cebu.
CARE counts 21 organizations as members including Rotary Clubs,  the University of San Carlos College of Architecture and Fine Arts, the Philippine Society of General Surgeons Cebu Eastern Visayas Chapter, the Philippine Pediatrics Society Cebu Central Chapter, Mariquita Salimbangon Yeung Foundation, Perpetual Succour Hospital and the Cebu Institute of Medicine Batch 1986 and 1987.
“Once we have a feasibility study, we believe that we will enroll more business groups to our fold and also high-value sponsors to our campaign,” wrote Espina.