Gov’t pours Php320.6M for health facility upgrade in Eastern Visayas

TACLOBAN CITY, Dec. 24 (PNA) – The Department of Health (DOH) and Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) will embark on a Php320.6-million Health Facilities Enhancement Program (HFEP), which seeks to build and upgrade barangay (village) health stations, rural health units, and local government hospitals in Eastern Visayas.

DOH Regional Director Minerva Molon said the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) recently released the 2015 appropriations, which will be fully implemented next year.

“It took a while for the national government to disburse the budget since the secretaries of DPWH, DOH and DBM have to agree on some policies,” Molon explained.

“On our part, we also have to conduct assessment to ensure that there would be no duplication of assistance from the government and non-government organizations.”

The Php320.6 million is on top of the multi-million outlay for HFEP that will be constructed by the health department. The two government agencies agreed that projects worth Php1 million and above will be handled by DPWH.

The DOH official has no available data on DOH-implemented HFEP projects during the interview, but according to her, majority of the projects are under the watch of DPWH.

“Our district engineers have been coordinating with the DOH and local government units regarding the conduct of site visitation to check the actual buildable space for the preparation of detailed plans,” said DPWH Regional Director Rolando M. Asis.

Of the Php320.6 million, Php13.9 million are intended for 13 village health stations, Php62.9 million for 24 rural health units, and Php243.8 million for 13 hospitals managed by local government units.

Broken down to provinces, Northern Samar got the highest HFEP allocation at Php105.5 million, followed by Southern Leyte (Php67 million), Leyte (Php61.7 million), Eastern Samar (Php36.2 million), Samar (Php26.2 million), and Biliran (Php24 million).

Nationwide, the budget department has released Php3.3 billion for 2015 HFEP under the DOH-DPWH partnership. (PNA)
LAP/Sarwell Q. Meniano

DPWH-Southern Leyte to complete construction of new provincial hospital

MAASIN CITY, Southern Leyte, Dec. 18 (PNA) – The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) will complete the construction of Southern Leyte provincial through a PHP50-million budget from the Health Facilities Enhancement Program (HFEP) of the Department of Health.

Specifically, the budget will be used to build a dialysis center, power house, morgue, and covered walk. The dialysis center will be the first of its kind in the province, operating through public-private partnership (PPP) scheme.

“For next year, we will build more facilities to help maximize the operation of the new hospital. These health facilities will allow more people here with health needs being served in an appropriate and timely manner,” said District Engineer Ma. Margarita C. Junia during the project inspection on December 10.

The hospital can accommodate 200 patients, but its current manpower reduces its bed capacity to only 100 patients.

The provincial government through Governor Roger Mercado relocated the hospital to Barangay Dongon from its old location in Barangay Mambajao in December 2014.

The Level 4 hospital primarily funded through a PHP226-million loan from the Development Bank of the Philippines is equipped with CT-scan, a toxic waste disposal facility, and ample space for parking.

The local government decided to transfer the provincial hospital considering that the old facility was overcrowded, close to residential areas, and has very limited parking space.

The facility has been attending to the health needs of patients in the entire Southern Leyte province, and towns of Matalom, Bato, Hilongos in Leyte. (PNA)
LAP/BNB/SQM/PR/egr