OFW hospital will be state-of-the-art

The R550-million hospital for overseas Filipino workers that will soon rise in San Fernando, Pampanga, is will have state-ofthe-art facilities, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said.

Bello said the hospital will provide the medical needs and services, as well as the subsidy programs of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) for OFWs, their families, and dependents.

“This hospital is in recognition of the valuable contribution of our modern-day heroes, the overseas Filipino workers, in the growth of our economy. This will serve as among the legacies that President Duterte can leave behind for our OFWs,” he said.

The acquisition and installation of the facilities for the first-ever DOLE-OFW hospital and diagnostics center will be financed by a P150-million donation from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor).

The hospital is expected to be completed in 18 months. Once operational, it will be

managed by the Department of Health (DOH). Similar facilities will be built in Visayas and Mindanao, Bello said.

OWWA Administrator Hans Leo Cacdac said a memorandum of understanding among concerned government agencies and other stakeholders for the construction and operation of the hospital is being finalized.

“The details are not yet final and even the bed capacity, the level of medical care, such as primary, secondary and tertiary, the plantilla staffing and the budget, but we hope to construct the hospital within one and a half year, within the Duterte Administration,” Cacdac said.