• CHERYL G. CRUZ
The Department of Public Works and Highways in Region 6 said Nov. 7 that its Bids and Awards Committee has awarded the contract for the construction of the Bacolod City General Hospital (BCGH), at P192.48 million, to a Manila-based firm Oct. 31.
The post-contract award disclosure for civil works submitted by Severo Ruiz, BAC Secretariat head, showed that Legacy Construction Corp., based in Pasig City, received the contract as winning bidder, also Oct. 31, for the BCGH construction in Brgy. Vista Alegre, with the Construction Division of DPWH6 as the implementing office.
The contract is for Phase 2 of the multi-million-peso project, or the construction of the main hospital.
Phase 1, worth P200 million, started September last year and involves the construction of a multipurpose building for various facilities, in support of the operation of the BCGH, including a morgue and a dietary building, as well as area development.
Bacolod Rep. Greg Gasataya, who is the principal author of Republic Act 11564, or the BCGH law, said during the August visit of Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri, who authored the counterpart bill in the Senate, that the construction of the hospital ancillary building was 70 percent complete.
He added that the Department of Health also allocated P250 million for the BCGH construction.
“Coming out of the pandemic, we want to build up our regional healthcare services,” Zubiri had said. “We don’t want a repeat of the overcrowded hospitals, the overworked nurses and doctors, and the patients being turned away from hospital to hospital.”
“I am very much looking forward to an improved healthcare sector in Western Visayas, once the BCGH is up and running,” the senator stressed, adding that he will work with Gasataya and Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Benitez on additional funding for the hospital equipment.
RA 11564, approved on June 24, 2021, seeks the establishment of the BCGH, with initial funding of P600 million in the 2022 General Appropriations Act, under the Health Facilities Enhancement Program of the DOH.
Zubiri initially committed an additional P400 million for the BCGH completion during the groundbreaking ceremony for Phase 1 Sept. 9 last year, saying that with over half a million people in Bacolod, “it is high time that we put up our very own hospital to cater to Bacolodnons.”
The whole project is expected to be completed by year 2025 or 2026. | CGC
