At the joint hearing yesterday of the Senate Committee on Health and Demography and the Senate Committee on Finance chaired by Senator Bong Go, House deputy speaker and Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez delivered his sponsorship speech for HB 7974 or An Act of Increasing the Bed Capacity of Northern Mindanao Medical Center (NMMC).

The Rodriguez bill, which was approved by the House of Representatives in December last year, aims at increasing the bed capacity of NMMC from 600 beds to 1,200.

“Right now, especially with this Covid-19 pandemic our hospital beds of 600 cannot anymore accommodate the daily influx of almost 900 to 1,000 patients. That is why we are need of this particular bill to be approved,” Rodriguez stressed.

“I am asking the honorable two distinguished committees of health and finance…to already have this [bill] approved by these committees, bring it for plenary approval by the Senate and to be signed by the President before the year ends,” he urged.

The Senate version of the bill is contained in SB N0. 1606 authored by Senator Imee Marcos.

It will be recalled that 6 years ago, the NMMC increased its bed capacity from 300 to 600 beds through the efforts and law sponsored by Rodriguez.

Rodriguez expressed his gratitude to Senator Go for the Malasakit Center in NMMC which is assisting hundreds of patients in need of financial aid for their hospital bills and medicine.

The House leader also thanked Senator Go, Senator Marcos, and Senator Nancy Binay for approving the budget for the completion of two (2) new building in NMMC – The New Ward Building (P500Million) and the Heart, Lung and Kidney Center (P300Million). With these new buildings, more beds are needed for Patients who will occupy these buildings.

DS Rodriguez have been working for the budget of the said facilities under the Department of Health and its yearly release under the General Appropriations Act (GAA) since 2013.

The approval of the bill will double the budget of NMMC next year to hire more doctors, nurses and other health care personnel commensurate to having 1,200 hospital beds.