DPH to get $125K federal grant
The Department of Public Health will receive $125,000 from the US Department of Interior as financial support for its plan to have the hospital building checked and to upgrade its computer system, Health Secretary Joseph Kevin Villagomez said yesterday.
At least $75,000 of the grant will be used to hire an engineering firm to do the structural analysis for the Commonwealth Health Center. The rest will be used to upgrade the agency’s computer network system said Villagomez.
The grant will come from the Operational Maintenance Improvement Plan program of the DOI.
Villagomez said CHC is already 12 years old having been erected in 1986. It has already withstood heavy storms and earthquakes, including manmade calamities.
He said there’s a possibility that the hospital’s structural foundation has been damaged.
He said this must be immediately determined to save the government future cost, at the same time lives of patients and other people frequenting the hospital.
“This building has been here for 12 years. We want to ensure that it is still structurally sound. This will be the main hospital for a long time. We need to ensure its integrity, structure-wise,” Villagomez said.
“It’s going to cost us $75,000 for the hospital building’s structural analysis. The upgrading of our computer system would cost us $50,000. We thought it’s a 50-50 thing. But before they (DOI representatives) left, they said they’ll fund it 100 percent,” he added.
Some cracks are already apparent on certain parts of the hospital. But although these marks are telltale signs the building has physically suffered from both manmade and natural calamities, hospital authorities still want the opinion of engineering experts on the matter.
Villagomez said they expect the structural analysis to be finished by January or February.
