THE first state run cancer center in Mindanao will open its doors to patients on January 8, 2012 as part of the Davao Regional Hospital complex in Barangay Apokon, Tagum City.
The cancer center for Mindanao with state-of-the-art facilities not yet available in other government-run hospitals in the island, according to hospital administrator Carlito U. Pillerin said Monday.
One of the few government institutions in the country recognized for being run efficiently, DRH which is concurrently managed by Health Undersecretary Romulo Bosuego was able to obtain a P200 million budget from the national government to start the operations of the center, Mr. Pillerin said.
The center has a funding requirement of about P600 million when it was initially approved in 2006. But it was only in 2009 when the P200 million fund was made available.
The hospital spent P37 million for the construction of the center on a two-hectare lot which was donated to the hospital by the University of Southeastern Philippines through the intercession of Tagum City Mayor Rey T. Uy.
With the remaining amount, the hospital was able to buy the P134 million linear particle accelerator, a facility usually referred to as the one used for nuclear therapy as it is used to kill cancer cells.
“The DRH (Davao Regional Hospital) is the only government hospital in the country with this kind of equipment,” he said.
Pillerin said the hospital “only needs about P400 million (including the initial budget) to make it fully-equipped.”
He added the center will allow people of Mindanao to access better treatment facilities comparable with those in Metro Manila. “This will erase the notion that only the medical providers in Metro
Manila and other urban centers of the country can provide better services,” Pillerin added.
Usec Romulo A. Busuego, chief of the hospital, conceptualized the design for the center himself. “He worked hard to make this project a reality,” Pillerin said. The Aquino government named as undersecretary in charge of supervising close to 70 government hospitals in the country.
The House of Representatives recently approved the hospital’s upgrading into Senate f a 500-bed medical center, Pillerin said, pointing out that by achieving a medical center status, it will now have the
capacity to become the training center for physicians who want to specialize in certain medical disciplines.
The hospital has also collaborated with the Davao Doctors Hospital for the setting up a neurological training center. [AD]
