Zubiri Files Bacolod City General Hospital Bill

As the country continues to grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic, Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri has filed a bill establishing a general hospital that will cater to residents of the Lone District of Bacolod City, Negros Occidental. It will be called the Bacolod City General Hospital (BCGH). Senate Bill No. 1647 is the counterpart measure of House Bill No. 6731 authored by Cong. Greg Gasataya in the House of Representatives.

"This pandemic has revealed to us how easily our hospitals can get overwhelmed. The fact is, we simply do not have enough hospitals--particularly, public hospitals that can deliver accessible and affordable medical care to our people," Zubiri said.

"The whole province of Negros Occidental shares only one tertiary government hospital. This is unthinkable, given how Bacolod City alone has a population of over half a million people." In the 2015 national census, Bacolod City was recorded to have 561,875 residents, making it the most populated city in Western Visayas. Its residents are serviced by the Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital (CLMMRH), which caters to the whole of Negros Occidental, at only a 400-bed capacity.

"The establishment of the BCGH is a partnership between Mayor Bing Leonardia, Cong. Greg Gasataya, and myself to address this problem in Bacolod City and finally build this hospital for the people of Bacolod City," Zubiri said.

"This will accomplish two things. One, it will provide quality and accessible health care to the residents of Bacolod. Two, it will keep CLMMRH from being overcrowded since it is already admitting patients about double its bed-capacity. This way, CLMMRH can attend more closely to its patients," he explained.

"The people of Bacolod have a right to proper health care services, and I'm with them on that. I am committed not only to pushing for the passage of this bill, but also to making the necessary budget allocations once it's passed the legislative gauntlet."