Gov’t cancer center opens in Tagum City

THE first government cancer center for Mindanao equipped with state-of-the-art facilities opened last Sunday, January 8. It is part of the state-run Davao Regional Hospital (DRH) in Barangay Apokon, Tagum City in Davao del Norte.
DRH administrator Carlito U. Pillerin said that the hospital, one of the few government institutions in the country recognized for being run efficiently, was able to obtain a P200 million budget from the national government to start the operations of the center.
According to Department of Health Assistant Secretary for Hospitals Romulo Busuego, who is the concurrent DRH  chief of hospital; 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  is the only government hospital in the country with this kind of equipment,” Busuego said.
Asec Busugeo said the center will allow people of Mindanao to access better treatment facilities comparable with those in Metro Manila. “This will slowly erase the notion that only the medical providers in Metro Manila and other urban centers of the country can provide better services,” he added.
Busuego conceptualized the design for the center himself.  “He (Mr. Busuego) worked hard to make this project a reality,”  Pillerin said of his superior whom the Aquino government named as assistant secretary in charge of supervising government hospitals in the country.
At present, the DRH is already waiting for the approval of the Senate to make itself a 500-bed medical center.
The proposal was initiated by Rep. Maricar Zamora-Apsay of Compostela Valley, Rep. Antony G. del Rosario of Davao del Norte’s 1st congressional district and Rep. Anton F. Lagdameo of the 2nd district of Davao del Norte.