CEBU CITY — Mayor Tomas Omeña wants the new Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC) to be operational this year.
Osmeña said Friday the city government is in the process of looking for a new option in the construction of the CCMC so that the new hospital building can be opened before the year ends.
“We’re trying to develop another option to have the CCMC opened by the end of this year just to get something operational even if some of the facilities and equipment would be temporary,” Osmeña said.
The hospital was heavily damaged by the 7.2-magnitude earthquake on Oct. 15, 2013 and had to be demolished to give way to the construction of the new CCMC building which began in 2015.
The mayor met Friday with officials of the city’s Department of Engineering and Public Works (DEPW) and asked them for updates on the construction of the CCMC building.
Assistant city engineer Josefa Ylanan said the mayor ordered DEPW officials to submit their respective proposals on how to make the second floor of the hospital operational.
“He (Osmeña) gave us only a few days to submit to him our plans. We still have a budget for that because we are still on Phase 1 (of the construction),” Ylanan said.
The local chief executive also ordered the temporary suspension of the construction works while city engineers are studying a new option.
“I gave them three days to study it, and yes the construction is suspended of course. There’s a deadlock right now,” the mayor said, adding that he cannot yet say how long the suspension will last.
“I don’t know. All I know is I want it (CCMC) opened this year,” he said. (Luel Galarpe with Bebie Jane Casipong/PNA)
