GENERAL SANTOS CITY – The city government here is expediting the early completion of the ongoing P100-million modernization and expansion of the city district hospital and its facilities.

City Mayor Pedro Acharon Jr. said the construction of the city hospital’s new two-storey building, renovation of the hospital façade and installation of modern medical facilities is scheduled to be completed by March next year.

“Most of these projects will be completed by March and become operational before the scheduled May 2010 elections,” the mayor said.

Acharon said the contractor of the project assured him that the two-storey hospital building would be completed by March and workers are now concentrating on the ground floor works.

Last month, the Department of Health (DoH) released some P13.5 million to the local government to cover the construction of the hospital facade and the expansion of its emergency room and the out-patient department.

The DoH also poured in P10 million last year for the initial phase of the upgrading of the hospital infrastructure, equipment and facilities and later announced another allocation of P30 million to facilitate the city government’s plan to elevate the classification of the hospital into tertiary level.

The city hospital projects, which were mainly co-funded by the city government and the DoH, include the installation of piped-in oxygen for its intensive care unit (ICU); completion of the hospital warehouse; construction of additional room for the operating room complex; renovation of the outpatient department, emergency room, hospital façade, pediatric ward and pediatric intensive care unit; and, the opening of a dialysis center.

The city government here has earmarked at least P7 million while the DoH allocated P16.56 million and another P13.44 million for the purchase of various sets of hospital facilities.

Acharon said the hospital, when completed, will serve the growing hospital clientele of this city and provide convenience to relatives of patients confined at the medical facility.