Leonardia orders immediate transfer of offices to give way to lying-in clinic
BACOLOD CITY — Mayor Evelio Leonardia has directed the immediate transfer of offices housed at the Bacolod City Health Office compound to give way to the establishment of a lying-in and birthing home facility that will be undertaken in partnership with the Riverside Medical Center.
These offices include the city government’s printing office, the satellite office of the Public Employment Service Office and a day care center. They will be transferred to the opposite side of the compound to give way for the construction of the lying-in clinic on the other side of the compound that used to house the Bacolod Housing Authority and the Civil Registrar’s Office that are now based at the New Government Center.
Leonardia asked the City Engineer’s Office to facilitate the immediate transfer so that the Riverside Medical Center can start the construction of the lying-in clinic at the soonest possible time. The mayor expressed hopes that the construction will be finished before the ban on government projects imposed by the Commission on Elections.
Aside from the construction of the facility, Riverside will also supply the medical supplies and equipment while the city government will provide the medical personnel and will have direct supervision over the facility.
Vice Mayor Jude Thaddeus Sayson, on the other hand said, that while they are fast tracking the construction of the facility, the city government is already working on the necessary permits to be able to operate the clinic.
He also clarified that the lying-in clinic project is a result of a long and careful study and was conceptualized through series of meetings.
Sayson stressed that the city government has commissioned a private school to conduct a study for a city hospital more than a year ago and this study revealed that it would be more practical for the city government to start with a lying-in clinic before proceeding to establish a city hospital.
The lying-in clinic will have a 30-bed capacity and will serve the less privileged Bacoleños. Leonardia also encouraged all residents to get PhilHealth cards so they could avail of discounts for medical services.
