More govt hospitals to rise in Pangasinan

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LINGAYEN, Pangasinan — In a bid to address the shortage of government health facilities in Pangasinan, Gov. Ramon Guico III announced on Thursday that his administration aims to build six additional hospitals over the next six years.

In a chance interview with local reporters, Guico said that the 14 hospitals currently operated by the provincial government offer fewer than 1,000 beds in total.

"Pangasinan has a population of more than 3 million. That means each hospital bed would have to serve around 3,000 patients," Guico said.

"What if there's another pandemic, or a dengue outbreak? Our hospitals would quickly run out of beds due to the large population. That's why we are prioritizing the construction of more hospitals," he added.

At present, the provincial government runs one provincial hospital in San Carlos City, six district hospitals in Tayug, Bayambang, Mangatarem, Lingayen, Alaminos City, and Urdaneta City, and seven community hospitals in Mapandan, Asingan, Pozorrubio, Bolinao, Umingan, Dasol, and Manaoag.

Two weeks ago, the provincial government, in partnership with the municipal government of Alcala, held a groundbreaking ceremony for what will become the 15th provincial government-run hospital.

The upcoming four-story hospital in Alcala has been allotted a P250-million budget for its first phase and will serve not only Alcala residents but also those from nearby towns. The local government of Alcala donated a 3,000-square-meter lot in Barangay Poblacion as the hospital's site.

In addition, the provincial government began constructing a P200-million, 55-bed "super community hospital" in Umingan last year. The facility, which will feature two elevators to accommodate senior citizens and persons with disabilities, is expected to be completed by the end of this year.

"My dream is to have 20 hospitals across the province," Guico said. "And we must also modernize our existing hospitals. While they now have better medical equipment, many still operate in outdated buildings due to the lack of a master plan over the years."

The governor said that the additional health facilities will include a training hospital, an apex hospital, and several specialty hospitals.

An apex hospital is a specialized facility recognized by the Department of Health and accredited by the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) to provide advanced medical care.

"We need tertiary and specialty hospitals — such as a Pangasinan Heart Center, Pangasinan Kidney Center, Pangasinan Lung Center, or a Pangasinan Children's Medical Center," Guico said.

"For the first time, we are pushing to improve medical and hospital services on a scale never before achieved. In less than three years, we've already made significant progress — and many more projects are still in the pipeline," he added.