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OIA grants $500K to DPH
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Posted on Aug 27 1999
The Office of Insular Affairs has recently approved some $500,000 in financial and technical assistance to the Department of Public Health that will also include a structural analysis of the Commonwealth Health Center.
According to Public Health Secretary Joseph Kevin Villagomez, the grant will allow the department to hire a plant engineer who will train the staff in the maintenance of the whole facility and equipment.
At the same time, a manual on preventive maintenance will be produced. Half of the cost of this project will be shouldered by the department.
Since he was able to get assistance for the training of the hospital’s biomedical technicians, Villagomez said he will most likely get an expert from the U.S. mainland to come here instead of sending the staff there.
A structural analysis of the building, which was part of the recently approved funding, is currently being conducted by an engineering firm. DPH is occupying about two-thirds of the hospital building’s ground floor. The hospital serves an estimated 10,000 patients every month, which is about half of the population it was supposed to serve when it was built in 1986.
Villagomez has earlier expressed concern on the possibility that its structural foundation may have been damaged by the natural calamities with the cracks and leaks visible in many areas of the building.
A year ago the department was hoping to construct a new structure which will house the entire administration so the CHC building can be used entirely for medical purposes.
But the plan, which was meant to expand the delivery of health care services, has been temporarily deferred due to lack of funds. Renovation of the hospital will only be carried out based on the results of the structural analysis.
