CEBU City’s 10-bed satellite hospital in the mountain barangay of Guba was renovated at a cost of P14 million this year.
But it still can’t take in patients for lack of equipment and a permit from the Department of Health (DOH).
A proposal to make the hospital operate with its own budget is being discussed by the City Council.
“In the absence of a license, we are only able to attend to the needs of outpatients,” said Dr. Nestor Casas, who’s in charge of the hospital.
He said the management of the Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC) was still working on securing equipment and the license.
The Guba satellite hospital is supposed to serve Guba’s 5, 000 residents and 16 other neighboring mountain barangays in Cebu City’s north district.
With its limited services, patients who can’t be treated there have to be transported to the the CCMC on an ambulance or barangay vehicle said Guba barangay captain Renerio Limotan.
Casas and two other doctors take turns to cover a 48-hour shift. They treat minor cases like cough and colds, diarrhea and vehicle accident injuries.
The laboratory can do tests for urinalysis, stool exam and complete blood count.
“We can’t accept maternity cases because you need a license to do that,” he said.
No doctor is available on Sundays. The hospital pharmacy is idle for lack of a licensed pharmacist.
Dr. Gloria Duterte, CCMC head, said she has already requested City Hall and the mayor’s office to hire personnel and procure equipment for the mountain hospital. She said she plans to expand to a 25-bed hospital and improve services there.
A P14 million renovation in June repaired a leaking roof, replaced damaged floor tiles and improved ventilation and comfort rooms.
Wall partitions have been added for the wards, emergency room, laboratory, X-ray room and pharmacy.
The DOH has already inspected the hospital.
“We are just waiting for the issuance of a license to operate,” she said.
A proposal to make operate it independently from CCMC is being pushed by Dr. Emmanuel Veloso, former hospital chief for the past 34 years.
“I propose that the (Guba) hospital be made to stand alone, and given a complete composition and personnel,” he told the City Council during its off-site session in Guba last Oct. 26.
He said his past requests for equipment were either denied or given less priority to give way for CCMC so a separate budget would improve services.
Raul del Mar clarified that the proposal of his daughter Rep. Rachel Marguerite “Cutie” del Mar, to let the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center operate it doesn’t mean transferring management control.
Raul told mountain barangay officials on Oct. 26 this could be a “joint management” with the Cebu city government and VSMMC.
“This means Vicente Sotto hospital will take part in giving services but the hospital still remains with the city government Dili na kuhaon, dugangan hinoon (It won’t be taken away, more will be added),” he said.
Del Mar said he hopes Mayor Rama, who wants Cebu City to still run the satellite hospital, will support the proposed joint management. /Chief of Reporters Doris C. Bongcac