INAUGURAL RITES. Batangas Governor Hermilando I. Mandanas (from left), Department of Health (DOH) Calabarzon Regional Director Dr. Eduardo C. Janairo, DOH Assistant Secretary Maria Francia M. Laxamana and Batangas Medical Center Chief of Hospital III Dr. Ramoncito C. Magnaye lead the ribbong cutting rites during the inauguration of the PHP155.9 M new Surgery Building “B” with top-of-line surgical facilities and operating room complex at the Batangas Medical Center in Batangas City on Friday (Aug. 24, 2018). The facilities will serve patients not only from Batangas City but also from the four other provinces of Calabarzon Region (Photo by Ben Briones/PNA)
BATANGAS CITY -- A new surgery building worth PHP155.9 million at the Batangas Medical Center (BatMC) compound was inaugurated Friday to provide state of the art surgical facilities with operating room complex for patients from Calabarzon provinces of Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon.
Department of Health (DOH) Assistant Secretary Maria Francia M. Laxamana, DOH Calabarzon Regional Director Dr. Eduardo C. Janairo, Governor Hermilando I. Mandanas and BatMC Chief II Dr. Ramoncito C. Magnaye led the inaugural rites of the new Surgery “B” Building.
In an interview, Janairo said the new surgery facilities complex was constructed in two phases through the DOH-Health Facilities Enhancement Program (HFEP) fund amounting to PHP155,900,000, of which PHP105 million was allotted for Phase 1 and PHP51 M for Phase II.
“Three more buildings are coming up, sa tatlong building na iyon there will be more services at hindi lang kasi Batangas ang serbisyo niya, it is the whole of Calabarzon, and the four other provinces na makikinabang dito at pupunta dito (three more buildings are coming up, (and) of the three buildings, there will be more services and it’s not only Batangas they are serving but the whole of Calabarzon, and the four other provinces are benefited from this and come here),” Janairo said.
He said even those from Laguna could go there instead of going to Manila where patients would encounter the heavy traffic situation, while access coming here is much faster and the medical services offered are similar to those in Metro Manila.
“Batangas Medical Center has now the top-of-the-line surgical equipment that can be also used in education, pero malaki pang pagkukulang kailangan ang pagtutulungan ng mga provincial governments like what Gov. Mandanas mentioned na maglalagay sila ng pondo para makompleto ang pangangailangan ng ospital (but there are some more equipment needed through the support from the provincial government like what Gov. Mandanas mentioned to allocate funds to complete the hospital requirements),” he added.
He also cited the Regional Development Council (RDC) which finds ways to avoid the delay of the project and proposes that each province in the Calabarzon Region to earmark PHP1billion budget to push through with the project.
"Ang PHP1 billion ayon sa kanya ay magmumula sa IRA ng bawat probinsya (The PHP1 billion fund according to Mandanas would be sourced from the Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) of each province (in the Calabarzon Region),” he said.
Meanwhile, Mandanas has assured Batangas province will spearhead its budget allocation starting January 2019 to obtain the PHP5billion additional funding requirement, which may not be provided by the national government.
“Dapat ang mahalaga pagdating sa kalusugan pantay-pantay ang mahirap at mayaman at ang ating ibibigay ay quality, hindi maging sagabal ang pananalapi sa mga nagkakasakit dito sa atin sa Batangas, dito sa atin sa Calabarzon, iyon ang ating vision (It is important that both the rich and the poor have equal access when it comes to health care. We ought to provide quality care and the financial capability of the patient should not be a hindrance to serve the sick here in Batangas and in the Calabarzon (Region), and that is our vision),” Mandanas said.
Meanwhile, Magnaye said it was during his administration when the Batangas Regional Hospital was renamed to BatMC, which is poised to be the diagnostic center of the region.
Magnaye said that included in their plan for BatMC’s is the upgrading of the power requirement due to the increasing electricity consumption of their new facilities and equipment.
He is also optimistic that the medical center would be able to more OB gyne, birthing rooms, ortho and neurologist specialists by 2020.
“We also do a lot of learning development intervention for our personnel, ‘hindi na nila kailangan pumunta sa Manila para mag-train at dinadala namin dito para ang mga needs ninyo matugunan, hindi lang ng outside stakeholders even inside people, our employees will be there (there’s no need for them to go to Manila to undertake training, and we’re bringing them here so they could also address your needs, not only the outside stakeholders but even inside people, (and) our employees will be there),” he added.
Magnaye said BatMC's vision is to be number one and be the leading medical center and possibly the best, but he said “that right now let’s just do it right and being number one and leading will come naturally.”
The Batangas Medical Center has six old operating rooms subject for renovation this year and the hospital administration hopes many more developments to take place soon to transform this regional hospital which now has 500-bed capacity through Republic Act 9791 that was enacted on Nov. 19, 2009.
Its humble beginnings can be traced to its provincial hospital status when it was opened to the general public on Jan. 1, 1928 with an initial bed capacity of 30 with three wards for charity and three rooms for private patients. (Maroe T. Geñosa/PNA)
