Reelected Cebu City Councilor Assures Completion of New City Hospital Despite Delays

A reelected Cebu City councilor has assured the completion of the PHP1.5-billion new Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC) building despite delays.

But Cebu City Councilor Mary Ann delos Santos, whom incoming Mayor Tomas Osmeña has designated as the “mayor” for the project, said there is no date yet for the resumption of the construction of the new 10-story hospital.

“That project will push through as this is a legacy to the people,” she said.

Civil works for the project have been temporarily stopped since last week because it doesn’t have a building permit yet.

Processing of the permit has also been suspended until the encroachment on a portion of Panganiban St. is addressed.

Office of the Building Official (OBO) officer-in-charge Engr. Josefa Ylanan said there are two options to solve the problem.

One is to remove the parts of the building that encroached on the road lot.

Delos Santos said the building is already there and the city has already spent for those columns.

The other option then, Ylanan said, once Panganiban St. is widened, is to just use a portion of the property of the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) compound, located across the hospital lot.

“It would be like moving the road,” she said.

The construction of the new CCMC hospital started in July last year and is supposed to be finished in April 2017.

The city is building the new hospital after the old CCMC building was demolished as it had been declared too dangerous to occupy after a 7.2-magnitude earthquake damaged the building in October 2013.(PNA) JMC/EB/EBP