EXPANDED HEALTH SERVICES. The perspective of a 10-story healthcare facility being built in the Bicol Regional Hospital and Medical Center compound in Daraga, Albay. The PHP2.1-billion project is expected to serve not just the people of the Bicol region but also those from Calabarzon and Eastern Visayas. (Photo courtesy of DPWH-Bicol)
LEGAZPI CITY – An additional building, worth PHP2.1 billion, to the Bicol Regional Hospital and Medical Center (BRHMC) in Daraga, Albay is expected to offer services not only to residents of Albay and Bicol region but also to nearby Calabarzon and Eastern Visayas.
In an interview on Tuesday, AKB Party-list Rep. and Committee on Appropriations chair Elizaldy Co said that once completed the building would spread specialized health services accredited by the Department of Health (DOH) to the people in the provinces of Cavite, Laguna, and Quezon in Luzon and the Samar provinces in the Visayas, among others.
The construction of the medical building is expected to be completed in 2026.
Co said the building, a legacy project of the Marcos administration, will provide quality specialty services such as cancer, cardiovascular, lung, trauma and burn care, renal and kidney transplant; and mental health care free of charge.
"We expect the Southern Luzon and the Visayas (to benefit). We will have the biggest, most high-tech, and highest quality hospital with reliable service for free," he said in his dialect.
Co said a halfway house or temporary residence would also be installed for the patients' guardians or the patients themselves from distant areas.
In a separate interview, Dr. Eric Raborar, BRHMC director, said the 10-story building is expected to be completed before the end of the term of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
"Naka standby na po lahat... sunod-sunod na po, pagkatayo ng building may mga kagamitan na po kasabay yan. (Everything is on standby... it's one after the other, when the building is built, equipment and facilities would be provided). The project is expected to cater to all the needs of our fellow Bicolanos," Raborar said. (PNA)
