Cebu Rep. Gerald Anthony Gullas Jr. has called for the upgrading of the Talisay District Hospital into a full-grown 500-bed medical center so it can provide a full range of highly specialized treatment services to a greater number of people in the Visayas.
“We are absolutely committed to transforming our district hospital in Talisay City, Cebu into a medical center under the supervision of the Department of Health. Besides the increase in bed capacity, we envision the hospital to be fully departmentalized and completely equipped,” Gullas said.
Gullas has filed House Bill 5140, which seeks to elevate the district hospital into the Talisay Medical Center, with extra specialties as a hub of Trauma and Emergency Medicine, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation as well as Sports and Exercise Medicine in the Visayas.
“Once the hospital achieves medical center status, it will be able to provide emergency services and care for patients suffering from traumatic injuries due to falls, car accidents and gunshot wounds,” Gullas said.
“Right now, due to limited capabilities in terms of staff, facilities and equipment, many trauma cases initially received by the hospital are simply referred to the much larger Don Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center in Cebu City,” Gullas pointed out.
In pushing for the swift passage of his bill, Gullas invoked the mandate of the Constitution for the State to provide essential health services, including hospitalization, to all the people at affordable cost, and to extend free medical care to the needy.
“Our target is to initially raise the hospital’s bed capacity to 150, then increase it further by 50 every year until we have 500 beds. We also intend to add certified specialists to the hospital’s existing staff of licensed physicians,” Gullas said
At present, the hospital is still constructing a second, four-level building to be able to put up a new Philippine Health Insurance Corp. ward, an operating room, maternity labor and delivery rooms as well as recovery rooms.
The hospital was established with an initial 25 beds in 1994 by Republic Act 7799, largely through the efforts of then Cebu Rep. and now Talisay Mayor Eduardo Gullas, the grandfather of Gerald Anthony.
It was originally meant to serve primarily the residents of Talisay, the Municipality of Minglanilla and Naga City, all belonging to Cebu province’s first congressional district.
But the younger Gullas said a growing number of patients from other parts of Cebu, and as far as Bohol and the Negros provinces, have also been seeking treatment in the hospital.