MONTEVISTA, Davao de Oro (MindaNews / 30 July 2026) — The ₱148-million financial assistance from the Office of the President to the Davao de Oro Provincial Hospital (DDOPH)-Montevista will be used to purchase additional equipment for the operating rooms and for hiring of additional medical staff, according to Dr. Ferdinand Anthony Soberano, chief of hospital.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., during his visit at DDOPH-Montevista on Tuesday, personally handed the check to Soberano.
The financial assistance was released through the Socio-Civic Projects Fund (SCPF), a government fund from Malacañang used to finance initiatives of local government units.
In an interview, Soberano said the President’s instruction was to spend all the money, especially as he met with patients in the surgery and obstetrics rooms where decades-old medical equipment are still being used for operations.
DDOPH-Montevista, with Level 1 accreditation, is one of the four hospitals operated by the provincial government of Davao de Oro. It houses up to 60 patients on a daily average with 160 authorized bed capacity and 270 implementing bed capacity. (The Philippine Health Insurance Corporation defines Level 1 classification as “hospitals that at most have isolation facilities, maternity, dental clinics, 1st level X-ray, secondary clinical laboratory with consulting pathologist, blood station, and pharmacy.)
“The priorities are for our Level 2 accreditation, like the re-equipping of our operating room since our equipment there are almost 20 years old. We will be buying safer and new equipment there,” Soberano said. (Level 2 hospitals have departmentalized clinical services, respiratory units, intensive care unit, neonatal ICU, high-risk pregnancy unit, clinical laboratory, and 2nd level x-ray.)
Soberano said that the priority medical equipment to be purchased are anesthesia machines, operating lights, operating tables, laparoscopic machines for the operating room. Electronic fetal monitoring (EFM) machines will also be purchased for the obstetrics and gynecology section. The hospital also aims to augment additional monitors for its ICU and defibrillators for the emergency rooms.
Soberano added that the financial assistance can help the hospital’s manpower as they push to become a Level 2-accredited hospital in 2027. He said additional medical professionals will be hired for the ICU and other laboratory services, though he did not give details on the number of additional doctors and nurses to be hired.
To increase the authorized and implementing bed capacity of the hospital, Soberano said that they are in talks with the Office of the President through Gov. Raul Mabanglo for additional hospital buildings to house more patients. (Daniel Jamito / MindaNews)
