DUMAGUETE CITY: Negros Oriental officials have assured its constituents that waste from the provincial hospital is being properly disposed of as the province embarks on a multi-billion-peso "Medical City" project over the next three years. Dr. Liland Estacion, Provincial Health Office (PHO) chief, told the Philippine News Agency on Thursday that safe disposal of infectious and non-infectious or regular waste from the Negros Oriental Provincial Hospital (NOPH) is being integrated into its project. 'The province has already initially acquired a shredder machine that will turn the hospital waste into powder before these will be disposed,' Estacion said. However, the equipment, which Governor Manuel Sagarbarria on Wednesday said was more like an 'incinerator,' had to be returned to the supplier after it was discovered following its delivery that it had not met the specifications of the province. Currently, the NOPH stockpiles its waste in storage units behind the hospital where disinfection is done daily, Est acion said. Initially, the provincial government was looking for a 'third party' that would collect and dispose of the infectious wastes from the NOPH, she added, but the new shredder machine will now cover all types of hospital waste. The cost of the machine was not immediately known, Estacion said. Sagarbarria announced that the "medical city" will be inaugurated on May 17 when the province celebrates its 100th jubilee anniversary of the provincial capitol. The medical city consists of three buildings spanning a huge area behind the NOPH that would cover the current Provincial Tourism Office and the Provincial Agriculture Office, which will be transferred to another location. The project's cost is pegged at PHP3 billion. However, Estacion assured district hospitals in Bayawan City, Tanjay City, and Guihulngan City that they too will each get financial assistance worth PHP100 million for improvement of their current facilities. Meanwhile, the National Historical Commission of the Philippines will put up a marker at the Capitol during the jubilee anniversary, a day marked with several activities to highlight the celebration. Source: Philippines News Agency
