Cancer Center PPP up for NEDA board approval

The proposed change in the cost and terms of the University of the Philippines - Philippine General Hospital (UP-PGH) Cancer Center public private partnership (PPP) project will be presented for the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) board approval next week, the PPP Center said.

ÒThere will be a NEDA board (meeting) on April 25, so hopefully it (Cancer Center PPP) will be approved,Ó PPP Center executive director Ma. Cynthia Hernandez told reporters on the sidelines of the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines luncheon meeting on Thursday.

The project cost has increased to P9.49 billion from P6.05 billion following changes in project terms, necessitating another round of approval from the NEDA board chaired by President Marcos.

Hernandez said the parameters, terms and conditions of the project were revised as some of the assumptions made applied to pre-pandemic conditions.

She said when the detailed terms and conditions for the project were being drafted, the PGH also realized the need to substantially upgrade the standards to have a world-class facility.

She also said the revised parameters and terms took into account the concerns of firms that have expressed interest in the project.

The Cancer Center PPP will be structured as a 30-year build-transfer-operate project.

It will involve the financing, designing, engineering, construction, as well as operation and maintenance by the private partner of the 300-bed facility that will provide inpatient and outpatient cancer treatment in the Metro Manila campus of UP-PGH.

The private partner will also be responsible for providing commercial activities including parking, retail and food and beverage.

In addition, it will provide clinical services to private self-paying patients in a dedicated, clinically separate 150-bed area.

UP-PGH, meanwhile, will provide clinical services free of charge to public patients in a separate 150-bed area.

Prospective bidders that have expressed interest in the project are Ayala Healthcare Holdings Inc., Plenary Asia Pte. Ltd., Scheirman Construction Consolidated Inc. and Siemens Healthcare Inc.

Hernandez said the government is still aiming to award the project within the year.