Bill converting Eversley to general hospital unmoved

CEBU, Philippines – The house bill that seeks to rename Eversley Childs Sanitarium Hospital in Mandaue City to Eversley Childs Sanitarium and General Hospital is still pending before the Congress, a year since it was submitted to the Senate.

Based on the records, the committee report for House Bill 01543 was filed last December 1, 2014 and the bill was transmitted to the Senate on the same day after the Lower House approved it with 201 votes and zero abstention.

Since then, there has still been no legislative movement on the proposal which was filed by Cebu Sixth District Representative Gabriel Luigi Quisumbing last July 7, 2013.

Eversley Childs Sanitarium is a licensed special secondary hospital operating for Regions 7, 8 and 10 for leprosy control activities.

Quisumbing, in his explanatory note to the bill, said it is the only hospital retained by the Department of Health to cater to this special need. He added that thousands were confined there even before the Second World War broke out.

The hospital is authorized to operate 450 beds, but so far, it houses 130 beds.

In 2005, the said hospital opened to the public its general services like obstetrics, gynecology, family medicine, pediatrics and surgery. It also has family planning, counseling, immunization and surgeries.

"Thus, the hospital has been flooded with cases outside of its main services as a leprosarium… It is only fitting to change its name to Eversley Childs Sanitarium and General Hospital," said Quisumbing. (FREEMAN)