MANILA, Philippines — Manila is setting its sights on having a much modern hospital for the poor which can compete with the country's top private medical facilities, a Manila official revealed Thursday.

Justice Jose Abad Santos General Hospital (JJASGH) Director Dr. Teodoro Martin said the two-year-old city-run hospital is gunning for the "Excellence" status this year from its present "Quality" status by upgrading its facilities and improving its services.

The hospital, which was inaugurated in December 2009 by Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim, is set to be evaluated by the Department of Health (DoH) and government health insurer Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) for status upgrade this year.

“We are aspiring for Excellence status, to be in the league of private tertiary hospitals like St. Luke’s and Makati Medical Center," Dr. Martin told the Manila Bulletin.

He revealed that the JJASGH is planning to add at least 50 beds in the hospital and acquire a Computed Topography Scan (CT Scan) and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), a dialysis unit required by the DoH.

The JJASGH director also said the facility has to upgrade its X-ray capabilities, now at Level 2, to Level 3, which is the highest level.\

To achieve the "Excellence" status, Dr. Martin explained that the DoH and PhilHealth requires hospitals to have a ramp that will be useful in case of blackouts and other emergencies as well as an increase in capacity to at least 200 beds.

But the JJASGH, according to Dr. Martin, is small and “structurally lacks the size unlike that of Sta. Ana Hospital or sa Ospital ng Maynila.”

The only solution, he said, is to expand the size of the hospital by erecting another building to house the administrative offices.

Dr. Martin also said he has prepared a program for the hospital to achieve the status upgrade and a plan as to where to source funds to build the ramp and buy the additional beds required in gaining the "Excellence" status.