• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Philanthropist Merceditas Javellana-Montilla has donated a 30,000-square meter prime property in Barangay Canturay, Sipalay City to the Department of Health (DOH) Negros Island Region Center (NIR) for the establishment of the region’s first mental hospital and drug treatment and rehabilitation center.
The deed of donation signing and acceptance ceremony was held on Sept. 19 at Park In by Radisson in Bacolod City, marking a significant step toward the development of the planned Merceditas Javellana Montilla Mental Hospital and Drug Treatment and Rehabilitation Center.
The donated property will serve as the site of the proposed facility, which aims to provide mental health support, psychiatric care, and substance use treatment and rehabilitation services to residents across the region.
Montilla’s latest donation builds on her longstanding contribution to public healthcare in Sipalay City.
In 2011, she donated two properties in Barangay Canturay that led to the establishment of the Merceditas J. Montilla District Hospital.
“I want to fully support the Department of Health’s programs in my own way, and I believe donating this land is one way I can contribute to improving the health and well-being of our people,” Montilla said.
The ceremony was led by DOH Undersecretary Mary Ann Palermo-Maestral, OIC Assistant Secretary and DOH-NIR Regional Director Razel Nikka Hao, Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital medical center chief Dr. Joan Cerrada.
Maestral said the DOH also looks forward to establishing a training program and mental health crisis center to strengthen the region’s capacity to deliver responsive and quality healthcare.
Hao said the land donation represents a tangible step toward realizing the DOH’s vision of making healthcare services more accessible to the people of Negros Island.
“The establishment of this future mental hospital and drug treatment and rehabilitation center will be our first tangible step toward making that dream a reality — bringing much-needed services closer and more accessible to the people we serve,” Hao said. | GPB
