In a bid to improve its health services, General Santos City plans to establish by next year a
P50-million complex that will house various offices of the City Integrated Health Services Offices (CIHSO). Dr. Edgardo Sandig, city health officer, said Mayor Darlene Antonino-Custodio has given the go-signal for the construction of a permanent home for the CIHSO through the assistance of the Department of Health (DOH).
He said the local government, through the CIHSO, earlier applied for a P50-million financial grant from the DOH for the ambitious project. “Our latest information is that the DOH is reportedly considering the grant. Hopefully, we can start the construction by next year,” he said in an interview. The CIHSO, which is the city’s biggest department, presently occupies a portion of the city district hospital in Barangay Lagao.
Sandig said their offices are part of the hospital complex which has been reeling from overcrowding problems due to the lack of rooms and other amenities. For the proposed CIHSO complex, the official said they were looking at building a two-storey structure in one of the vacant lots owned by the city.
He said among the sites they were considering is an vacant portion behind the city district hospital.
He said the proposed site and office building should be able to accommodate all offices of the CIHSO, including its laboratory and testing units.
The CIHSO is operating testing units for various diseases, among them for the Human Immunodeficiency Virus or HIV. “GenSan is not an ordinary city. Its service (coverage) area rivals that of a province and its districts are already like municipalities. So, we must also implement some changes to improve our operations and service delivery,” Sandig said. [Allen V. Estabillo/MindaNews]
