DOH announces soft opening of mega drug rehab center in Fort Magsaysay

The Department of Health on Tuesday announced the "soft opening" of the mega drug treatment and rehabilitation center at Fort Magsaysay in Laur, Nueva Ecija.

At a news briefing in Malacañang, Health Secretary Paulyn Ubial said the facility that is seen to hold 10,000 patients was partially completed on Monday.

"Our personnel, who were hired for that facility, about 1,000 of them, are now actually viewing the facility and having a dry run on how to manage the patients that will be referred to that facility come November," Ubial said.

Ubial said the government was looking at building a few more mega treatment and rehabilitation centers—one more in Luzon, and one each in the Visayas and in Mindanao.

"The budget for the human resources needed for these facilities are already included in our 2017 budget proposal," Ubial said.

The P15 million needed for the new hires for the Nueva Ecija facility, Ubial said, was taken from the DOH's Quick Response Fund since the positions were not provided for under the 2016 budget.

Ubial justified the use of the emergency fund, saying the sheer number of drug surrenderers—at least 790,000 of them—has made drug addiction in the country a national health emergency.

"We are working with local government units, particularly barangays and municipal and city officials that will handle the community-based rehabilitation program, where an estimated over 95 percent to 98 percent of the surrenderers will be having this program," Ubial said.

"This is in collaboration with non-government organizations, interfaith groups, and volunteers. So that’s the current situation and all these programs of the DOH are actually included in the 2017 budget," he added.

Ubial said that six weeks after the project broke ground, almost 50 percent of the facility has been constructed. She said the right wing of the building, which can accommodate almost 1,000 patients and offices are now ready to be furnished.

Ubial said 2,500 beds were turned on Monday and the remainder 7,500 bed capacity would be ready by November 16.

"The construction of this mega rehab center began soon after my visit to Beijing in September this year, wherein we signed a Deed of Donation with our very generous donor, a businessman from China. Mr. Huang Rulun is the donor of a total of a total of 10,000-patient capacity rehabilitation center," Ubial said.

"And as of this press briefing, we already have a donor for the furnitures for this facility. Not the businessman but a local, private corporation from the Philippines," she added.

Ubial said the construction of the left wing of the building and the female dormitory was underway and the donor, Mr. Huang, "is a philanthropist who is listed in the Hurun Philanthropy List for 13 consecutive years in China."

"He is the second on the latest list behind Alibaba Group Holdings, with total donations of more than 97 million US dollars last year mainly for the construction of three high schools," Ubial said.

"He is a privately held real state developer and has investments in 20 five-star hotels and 10 shopping malls all in China," she added. —NB, GMA News