TACLOBAN CITY – The Eastern Visayas Medical Center (EVMC) shared that the facility is optimistic about reaching its goal of 1,500 hospital beds in the next four years, which would almost triple its current capacity.
EVMC Chief Joseph Michael Jaro shared the good news in a press conference on October 25, 2024. According to him, the expansion will eliminate congestion at the regional hospital, which has been having an occupancy rate of 117 percent. “As we improve the infrastructure, we improve bed capacity, and we are moving towards 1,500 beds by 2028. The House of Representatives, led by Speaker Martin Romualdez, is committed to supporting the development of EVMC,” said Jaro.
The aforementioned expansion is mandated under Republic Act 11567, which was enacted into law in 2021. EVMC, which is situated in Barangay Cabalawan of Tacloban City, has 629 beds at the moment, but it has been treating up to 800 patients. According to Jaro, the challenge is that several cases are referred to EVMC even if the condition is manageable in district and provincial hospitals. EVMC was given a budget of PHP3.3 billion for 2024 in order to upgrade its facilities and buy additional medical supplies. Among other things, the expenditure will pay for the rehabilitation of the entire main building, the rehabilitation of clinical wards, and the installation of elevators that can accommodate patient beds, the renovation of the operating rooms, the upgrading of the emergency rooms, the construction of the cancer building, the renovation of the main lobby, and the rehabilitation of the radiology and laboratory departments. Additionally, the hospital’s operating and maintenance costs will rise from PHP527 million to PHP1.2 billion by 2025.
The EVMC is among the DOH-retained hospitals. It is a tertiary, teaching and training end-referral health facility that provides comprehensive quality health care services to the people of Region 8. It is equipped with all services required for a Level III facility under the health facilities operation program mandated to provide quality health care services and contribute to the social sector outcome of improving human development status through access to curative and rehabilitative health care services. The said hospital’s vision is to be a globally competitive center of excellence in health that provides quality care to the people of Region 8 by 2030. By Gwen Maurillo (EV Mail October 21-27, 2024 issue)
