By Joseph B.A. Marzan
The bed capacity of the Western Visayas Medical Center (WVMC) in Mandurriao, Iloilo City will be expanded from 425 to 700 after President Rodrigo Duterte signed Republic Act No. 11496 on Nov. 16, 2020.
WVMC Hospital Chief Dr. Joseph Dean Nicolo told Daily Guardian that the WVMC had decreased its maximum bed capacity to 400 in March due to infrastructure projects as well as the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
The hospital was also designated as the central COVID-19 facility back in March during the early days of the COVID-19 lockdowns in the region.
While the bed capacity is around that number, the volume of patients admitted to the hospital reached between 500 and 600, even without the pandemic.
‘THANK YOU’
The hospital’s expansion bill was principally authored by Iloilo City lone district Rep Julienne Baronda.
In a statement, Iloilo City Rep. Julienne “Jam-Jam” Baronda expressed profound gratitude to President Rodrigo Duterte for signing Republic Act 11496, which would transform the region’s premiere government hospital by increasing its hospital beds by 275, improving its facilities and hiring more personnel.
“We thank Pres. Duterte for turning our dream into reality. Finally, after more than two decades, WVMC will be made bigger and way better,” Baronda said, adding, “It is good that Pres. Duterte shares the same passion when it comes to health that is why their hospital in Davao City can be compared to the best private hospitals in Metro Manila. I want that to happen to WVMC, too.”
She further expressed gratitude to Senator Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go, the Senate health committee chair, for championing the passage of RA 11496 in the upper chamber of Congress.
She also thanked the House Committee on Health chair Rep. Angelina Tan for pushing its approval in the lower chamber, former Speaker Alan Cayetano for the full support and all her colleagues in the House including now-Speaker Lord Allan Velasco in voting for its passage.
Filed in July 2019, Baronda sought the increase of beds from 425 to 700. House Bill 00909 sought the improvement of hospital equipment and the hiring of doctors, nurses and other personnel commensurate to the number of beds.
“The additional bed-capacity and corresponding improvement of other facilities and increase in personnel is a long-held dream of the regional medical community. RA 11496 brings this dream firmly into the realm of certainty. It is the realization of our core advocacy to improve the health sector facilities and services in Iloilo City,” Baronda told the Daily Guardian.
Baronda decried the congested hallways of WVMC that are often transformed into makeshift wards for its patients. WVMC, based on its 2017-2018 records, had an average bed occupancy rate of 136.30%, which exceeds the national standard of 85% bed capacity.
“It pains me to see patients already suffering from whatever health issues they have, further suffering from having to contend with the lack of decent and comfortable beds. They have to bring in their own folding beds just to have something to lie down on. We will ensure the full implementation of RA 11496 so that this sorry state will be a thing of the past,” added Baronda.
In crediting “the valuable support” Baronda who filed House Bill No. 0909 in last year, Dr. Marilyn Convocar, Department of Health regional director, said that passage of the law “will pave the way for the improvement of healthcare services not only in Iloilo but also the rest of Western Visayas.”
Then-Cong. Jerry Treñas filed a similar piece of legislation in the previous Congress.
The WVMC will serve as the apex hospital for Health Care Provider Networks in Western Visayas and is envisioned to be specializing in heart-lung, nephrology, neurology, oncology and geriatrics.
Baronda, on the other hand, said, “Amid the grim challenges of a pandemic and the natural disasters that currently beset our land, this piece of welcome news also brings us closer to our avowed goal of improving the lives of the Ilonggos through responsive, accessible and quality hospital care.”
Baronda ran on the platform called “HOPE” which stands for “health, obra, peace and order, and education.”
RA 11496 has to be implemented within two years from the date of its effectivity.
DREAM COME TRUE
In a press statement, Nicolo said that the new law was a “dream come true” for the Visayan people.
“[Rep. Act No. 11496] is a dream come true for the people in the Visayas region. Through the support of the local government, [the] Department of Health and the Office of the President, we are now one step closer towards the improvement of our healthcare services align[ing] with the government’s vision of a livable, resilient, progressive and globally competitive Iloilo,” Nicolo said in a statement.
Nicolo also said that this will be a good addition to the current expansion projects being done at WVMC.
“We have ongoing infrastructure [projects], such as our Building A, which will finish by probably first or second quarter of 2021. That will have 150 beds. So that will be our opportunity to increase our beds. After COVID, if there would be no more spacing or dispensing in one ward, we could increase our bed capacity then,” he said in a phone interview.
Along with the expansion of their bed capacity and facilities, the hospital chief says they are also pushing for the regularization of their casual workers as well as additional human resource to go with their over-all upgrading.
The hospital is also targeting several equipment to achieve its aim of being a multi-specialty medical center.
The WVMC is already serving as the region’s center for the heart, lungs, kidney, and geriatric services.
The Department of Health (DOH), according to Nicolo, is targeting the WVMC as a multi-specialty center by the year 2025.
“Since we’re expanding our bed capacity, increasing our personnel should also be included. There should be compensation. We’re focusing on our human resources as we have many job hires because we also want them to become regulars. We are communicating with the DOH regarding this and we are already passing our requirements,” he said.
