Davao City, May 24 (PIA) The Department of Health assured that a new facility will be constructed to replace the old building of the Davao Mental Hospital or the psychiatric ward of the Southern Philippines Medical Center that was destroyed by fire that occurred Wednesday morning.
Dr. Elmer Punzalan, assistant secretary of Health for special concerns and projects told reporters that the DOH has already allotted Five Hundred Million Pesos to refurbish the facility even before the fire incident happened.
He said the project is part of the master development plan of the government.
Punzalan said a P5-Million allocation will also be released accordingly while P1-Million is being processed for subsidy for patients who are temporarily housed in private hospitals.
He said that currently, the SPMC is maximizing the use of parts of the building that was spared by fire.
Punzalan said the male ward is still functioning but not in full operation since many of the equipment was also destroyed by fire.
Dr. Abdullah Dumama, regional director of the DOH XI said that they will work to ensure that the project will be fully realized to be used by residents in Southern Mindanao.
He said that his office will follow up the release of the funds for the project.
“We also aspire for a better center as mental institution in this part of the country,” Dumama said.
Dr. Leopoldo Vega, chief of the SPMC recalled that the old mental hospital used to be the sole hospital of Davao Province back in 1918, before it was turned to be a garrison by the Japanese and the American forces during the Second World War.
He said it has been the long running government psychiatric facility up to the present.
Vega also apologized for the action of the mental hospital personnel who allegedly deleted the pictures of photojournalists on the incident just to protect the privacy of the patients in the facility.
“It was an amateur way of dealing with media. It was not part of our protocol,” he pointed out.
Fire Inspector Rodolfo Alocelja of the Bureau of Fire Protection XI said that the fire was caused by electrical short circuit under the stairs near the occupational therapy and out-patient departments.
He said power was also fluctuating prior to the incident.
Alocelja estimated the total damage cost to equipment and building at P2-Million.
“The building can be considered as ordinary combustible material because it was already very old,” he said.
Alocelja also attributed the explosion during the fire on oxygen tanks and appliances.
He said the fire was indeed very fast as it engulfed from the left to right of the building. (PIA XI-Joey Sem G. Dalumpines)
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