Gallego submits equip't wish list

GARCIA Memorial Provincial Hospital (GMPH) Chief Harold Gallego this week submitted his wish list of equipment he wants procured to qualify for upgrading from a secondary to a tertiary hospital. This after Gov. Erico Aumentado informed him that the donation of one million RMB equivalent to P6.224 million of the Jiangxi Provincial People's Government of the People's Republic of China has been credited to the Special Trust Account of the Provincial Government of Bohol opened at the Tagbilaran Branch of the Land Bank of the Philippines solely for the purpose.

On receiving a copy of the credit advice from the Land Bank, Aumentado called Gallego, Dr. Adolfo Cuaresma, chief of the Cong. Simeon Toribio Memorial Hospital in Carmen town, consultant Dr. Teofilo Arcay, Provincial Board member Concepcion Lim who is also a physician and chair of the Committee on Health, Provincial Health Officer Reymoses Cabagnot and his assistant, Dr. Greg Julius Sodusta, to a meeting.

Top in Gallego's list are an ultrasound machine with a trans vaginal probe – an important tool for accurate diagnosis of disease, an automated blood chemistry analyzer, electrolyte analyzer and a blood bank refrigerated centrifuge for the hospital in Talibon town. The pool of doctors is now asking around for pricing and specifications to get a benchmark for bidding.

The equipment will be housed in a 60-square meter minimum laboratory to be constructed with a P5 million allocation from the provincial government that Aumentado has leveraged for a counterpart from President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for a total of P10 million. He has written Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya to remind him to release the amount as committed by the President.

The new building will also house offices, among others. The existing laboratory will be turned into airconditioned rooms, which are now getting in demand by patients at the provincial hospital. The use of the diagnostic equipment and the airconditioned rooms will be for a fee, hence, income-generating activities for the hospital. Meanwhile, the governor sent e-mail, fax and snail mail messages to Meng Jianzhu, chair of Jiangxi 's standing party committee and to his counterpart Gov. Wu Xinxiong, thanking them for the donation. He said the equipment will be properly marked “Donated by the Jiangxi Provincial People's Government, People's Republic of China ” for identification and to perpetuate the Jiangxi government's benevolence and humanitarian mission.

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