Feature: Constantino Soriano Memorial Hospital: A dream come true for Siocon residents

by Gideon C. Corgue

SIOCON, Zamboanga del Norte , March 19 (PIA) –  People will no longer travel long distances from remote communities to avail of quality health services. A 50-bed capacity hospital now serves the health needs of the rural poor specifically  in the Triple SB area, (Sirawai, Siocon, Sibuco and Baliguian) municipalities of Zamboanga del Norte and other neighboring towns. 

Administrative officer Benjamin Corbita said the P30-M Constantino Soriano Sr. Memorial Hospital (CSSrMH) is the brainchild of Mayor Ceasar C. Soriano as part of his health care agenda and was constructed and inaugurated on April 1, 2011.

Corbita said the (CSSrMH) is  a two-storey concrete edifice with 50 bed capacity and lies in the heart of the first class municipality of Siocon to provide local folks access to quality healthcare

Mayor Ceasar C. Soriano  donated a big lot owned by his late father Constantino, a policeman, to which the hospital was named after. The  immediate concern of Mayor Soriano’s administration was to address the health problems of his constituents, believing that a healthy citizenry is an empowered citizenry. Making the necessary representations, he was able to secure funding from the Department of Health in the amount of P30 M and so the hospital was built.

“He used to  extend assistance by bringing patients afflicted with diseases such as diarrhea, malaria, pneumonia, and other diseases to the hospitals in Zamboanga City which is very far from Siocon  using his private vehicles. Beset with this pitiful situation, he finally decided  to build a hospital,” Corbita narrated.

Meanwhile, OIC-chief of hospital Dr. Fidel Pondevida Jr. said the CSMH started to operate as level I (infirmary) hospital saying that they lacked medical equipments to operate. 

Pondevida said CSSrMH is now in the process of  applying for license at the Department of Health (DoH) and medical equipments will be released by the said department this month.  “DOH, our counterpart is scheduled to release  P30-M worth of medical equipments and these includes X-ray and anesthesia machines and an ambulance,” Pondevidad added.

Pondevida said in terms of manpower and service capability, CSMH is basically ready. “We have the capability to handle large number of patients,” Pondevida assured.

“We have ten (10) medical doctors, who are resident physicians, 34 medical staff and volunteers ready to provide assistance,” Pondevida proudly reported.

The hospital chief admitted that with the pending application for license , CSSrMH could not operate in full blast  but they are exerting  sincere and best efforts to fulfill their long time dream by providing access to affordable and  quality healthcare to the underprivileged sector.

Pondevida said based on their annual accomplishment report, most of the patients who availed healthcare services were coming from the Triple SB municipalities.

Pondevida said CSMH operates as an economic enterprise in order to sustain the operation saying that patients have to pay for every treatment they would have to avail. 

The local government unit through the mayor’s office, Pondevida said, have allocated funds from its budget for  indigents patients where a discount of 70% will be offered to them, he concluded. (ALT/GCC/PIA9-Zambosur)