KORONADAL, South Cotabato (PIA) — Construction work for an eight-storey hospital building inside the SOCCSKSARGEN General Hospital (SGH) compound in Barangay Dajay, Surallah, South Cotabato, will begin soon.
On July 17, Department of Health (DOH) Undersecretaries Abdullah Dumama Jr. and Achilles Gerard Bravo, South Cotabato Second District Representative Peter Miguel, Vice Governor Arthur Pingoy Jr., and SGH Medical Chief of Hospital Ceril Magbanua-Borromeo led the groundbreaking of Phase 1 of the medical facility construction project.
According to Borromeo, the construction of the hospital building is part of the larger vision to establish the DOH-retained SGH as the apex hospital in the SOCCSKSARGEN Region, or Region 12.
“Phase 1, which is the ground floor of the proposed eight-storey building, will house the dietary unit, the neonatal intensive care unit, and the delivery room complex,” Borromeo told the Philippine Information Agency.
Phase 1 costs P130 million, sourced from the DOH’s Health Facilities Enhancement Program (HFEP) for 2024, upon the initiative of Rep. Miguel.
She noted that because the Cotabato Regional and Medical Center (CRMC) in Cotabato City already serves as an end-referral hospital for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, Region 12 currently lacks a government-owned apex hospital of its own.
Thus, patients in Region 12 that need specialized care are brought to either CRMC or Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC) in Davao City.
An apex or end-referral hospital provides specialized healthcare services, as determined by DOH and contracted as a stand-alone facility by PhilHealth.
Borromeo clarified that the Department of Budget and Management, if approved, will allocate funds annually for the construction of the entire eight-story building under a multi-year contractual authority (MYCA).
She stated that they are expecting a yearly budget of up to P400 million for the hospital project.
Based on the plan, the new facility will cost P1.59 billion.
Borromeo, citing the plan, noted that the second floor will house the operating room complex and burn units, and the third floor will be for the general intensive care units.
She added that the fourth to seventh floors will serve as wards, while the eighth floor will be an auditorium and for other purposes.
“Hopefully the construction works will continue until the entire hospital building shall have been completed. This will soon be the apex and premier hospital of the SOCCSKSARGEN Region,” said Borromeo.
At present, SGH operates as a Level 1 hospital, delivering primary care services in a 75-bed capacity; however, Borromeo said the hospital is already “infrastructure ready” for upgrading into a Level 2 category health facility.
SOCCSKSARGEN Regional Hospital officially opened in August 2019 as the Upper Valley Community Hospital (UVCH), with a 50-bed capacity and managed by the Provincial Government of South Cotabato.
It was originally intended to serve patients from the Upper Valley municipalities of the province in order to decongest the South Cotabato Provincial Hospital.
On October 26, 2018, then President Rodrigo Roa Duterte signed Republic Act 11102, mandating the establishment of the SOCCSKSARGEN General Hospital in Surallah.
The law paved the way for the conversion of the UVCH to SGH. (DED – PIA Region 12)
