KORONADAL CITY (MindaNews / 28 June) – The provincial government of South Cotabato will start this week the gradual turnover of the operations of the Soccsksargen General Hospital (SGH) in Surallah town to the Department of Health (DOH).
The Soccsksargen General Hospital (SGH) in Surallah, South Cotabato. Photo courtesy of Google Street View
South Cotabato Gov. Reynaldo Tamayo Jr. said Monday personnel from the DOH-12 will be formally reporting for duty at the hospital starting on July 1 as part of the ongoing transition process.
He said the agency has already hired the initial employees for the SGH, with some coming from the current roster under the provincial government.
Citing their earlier negotiations with the DOH-12, Tamayo said the latter agreed to maximize the hiring of employees from within the hospital to ensure that no one would be displaced.
Current workers who will not be hired would be absorbed later on by the South Cotabato Provincial Hospital based in this city, he said.
“The process will continue until we fully transfer the hospital’s operations and it can already stand on its own,” Tamayo said in his weekly radio program.
Formerly known as the Upper Valley Community Hospital, SGH was designated in 2018 as a regional hospital for Region 12 (Soccsksargen) through Republic Act 11102 signed by President Rodrigo Duterte.
Its turnover to the DOH-12 was delayed due to the onset last year of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, which forced the local government to utilize it as a dedicated treatment and isolation facility.
The provincial government and the DOH, through Undersecretary Abdullah Dumama and Regional Director Aristedes Tan, agreed to complete the hospital’s turnover before the end of the year.
Tamayo said the process covers the full transfer of the existing facilities, equipment, manpower, accounting unit and operations.
He assured that the hospital’s operations and services will not be hampered during the transition period.
“With the full turnover, our obligation to the hospital will end. But its services will continue,” the governor said.
DOH is pushing for the development of SGH as the main regional hospital in Soccsksargen, which will operate as a Level 3 facility and capacity of at least 300 beds.
The Regional Development Council of Region 12 had endorsed a budget of around P1.8 billion for SGH next year, a significant increase from the current P89 million, to fast-track the upgrading of the facility. (MindaNews)