House panel okays bill that will triple Barotac Nuevo Hospital’s bed capacity

Iloilo 4th District Rep Braeden John Biron’s bill expanding the capabilities of Don Jose S. Monfort Medical Center Extension Hospital (DJSMMCEH) was approved by the Committee on Health of the House of Representatives on August 12.

In a virtual meeting conducted by the Committee on Health of the House of Representatives via Zoom, Rep. Biron said, “There is no better time than now for the government to capacitate our currently available and accessible lower level hospitals in the provinces and provide a better mandate and better funding for these hospitals, such as the DJSMMCEH, to operate to its full potential.”

In the same meeting, the Department of Health voiced their support for the measure, after which, the bill was officially declared approved by the Committee.

The bill, entitled “AN ACT EXPANDING THE MANDATE AND SERVICE CAPABILITY OF THE DON JOSE S. MONFORT MEDICAL CENTER EXTENSION HOSPITAL IN THE MUNICIPALITY OF BAROTAC NUEVO, ILOILO, RENAMING THE SAME AS DON JOSE S. MONFORT MEDICAL CENTER AND APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR” mandates for the expansion of DJSMMCEH from a 100-bed, Level 1 hospital to a 300-bed tertiary hospital with multispecialty service.

It also provides for its renaming to Don Jose S Monfort Medical Center (DJSMMC), which effectively removes its status as a mere extension hospital of Western Visayas Medical Center in Iloilo.