A bill seeking the creation of a P600 million Bacolod City General Hospital was approved by the Senate on second reading Wednesday night, May 26, Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri said.
An amended version of Senate Bill No. 1647 that calls for the establishment of the hospital is expected to be approved on third reading on Monday, May 31, Zubiri, author of the measure, told DIGICAST NEGROS.
Zubiri said he hopes to get the bill signed into law before the President’s State of the Nation Address on the last Monday of July.
The amendment to the bill states that the amount of P600 million will be appropriated for the construction of the hospital that will be funded under the 2022 General Appropriations Act under the Health Facilities Enhancement Program of the Department of Health, Zubiri said.
Senate Bill No. 1647 is the counterpart measure of House Bill No. 6731 authored by Bacolod Rep. Greg Gasataya.
The hospital will provide quality and accessible health care to the residents of Bacolod, and keep the Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital from being overcrowded, Zubiri said.
“This pandemic has revealed to us how easily our hospitals can get overwhelmed. The fact is, we simply do not have enough hospitals–particularly, public hospitals that can deliver accessible and affordable medical care to our people,” Zubiri said earlier.
Gasataya said “as someone who has firsthand experience how difficult it is to have a sick family member and barely have means to pay for hospitalization, I understand our need for better public healthcare. This is why we made healthcare and medical assistance our priority in Congress.”
Gasataya said in the 17th Congress, Republic Act No. 11441, which he authored in the Lower House, was also enacted into law to increase the bed capacity of CLMMRH from 400 to 1,000 to help decongest the local healthcare system.*