TAGBILARAN CITY — A bill had been approved to purchase additional beds for the Governor Celestino Gallares Memorial Hospital from the current 225 to 525 beds, a statement said on Friday.
Bohol 1st District Rep. Rene Relampagos, in a statement, expressed elation over the approval of the bill by the House Committee on Health on Tuesday.
After the hearing, Relampagos said it had been 20 years since the hospital was expanded.
Bohol has a growing population and there has been a dire need to expand the hospital capacity to accommodate more patients.
Relampagos said this was the third time for the bill to be filed in Congress.
The expansion of the hospital beds will be done in a span of three years.
The modernization of the hospital facilities will include an annex facility that will be located in Cortes town west of Tagbilaran City.
The additional facilities allow better delivery of health services to the people in the rural areas of Bohol.
Back in 2016, the provincial government of Bohol proposed to re-locate the hospital to a more spacious area in barangay Malayo Norte, Cortes town.
The idea is to have a larger medical facility to accommodate more patients especially from the outskirts of the province.
The hospital officers have pointed out the congestion problem with the hospital being the most equipped medical facility in the province.
More people have been trooping to Gallares Hospital for their medical and health needs.
Bohol has 18 licensed hospitals, six of which are public hospitals and the rest are privately owned. (Dave Albarado/PNA)
