Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 19) — The government is identifying more areas in the country for the construction of specialty hospitals in a bid to boost local healthcare services, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said on Wednesday.
“Ang napagkasunduan namin, imbes na magtayo ng bago pang ospital ay mag-extension na lang ‘yung mga ibang ospital para mayroong specialty na ilang kama para talaga as a specialty hospital,” Marcos told reporters in an ambush interview in Bulacan.
“And we are now identifying kung saan ‘yung areas. Tinitingnan natin kung ano ‘yung naging karanasan natin noong pandemic, saan sila nahirapan at saan malayo masyado ‘yung pasyente kailangang dalhin at doon natin ilalagay, doon sa mga lugar na ‘yun,” he added.
[Translation: What we agreed upon is instead of building new hospitals, we’ll just create extensions so that there will be specialty beds, for specialty hospitals. And we are now identifying the areas where they can be built. We’re looking at the situation during the pandemic, what the challenges were, where the patients had to travel due to long distance, we’ll build them in those areas.]
The move is in line with Marcos’ pronouncement during his first State of the Nation Address last year — where he sought the construction of specialized establishments to provide medical assistance for people in the provinces.
The chief executive did not list down the specific sites authorities are eyeing, but said these will be the ones that have “weak localized healthcare.”
Last month, Marcos announced the creation of an annex of the Philippine Heart Center in Clark, Pampanga.
