Bacolod: Top officials of this highly urbanized city continue to push for initiatives to ensure the delivery of premium healthcare through investments in better hospital access and construction of more medical facilities. In a Facebook post on Saturday, Bacolod City Lone District Representative Alfredo Abelardo Benitez expressed his vision for Bacolod as a 'super city,' emphasizing the empowerment of every Bacolodnon through improved healthcare services.
According to Philippines News Agency, healthcare was among the priorities outlined by Benitez during his State of the District Address delivered on Friday afternoon. He emphasized that regardless of a city's intelligence, resilience, or competitiveness, the ultimate test of a super city is whether an ordinary Bacolodnon family can withstand and survive a health emergency.
Benitez highlighted the Bacolod Comprehensive Healthcare Program (BacCHP), launched during his mayoral term from 2022 to 2025, as the first program in the country to integrate both public and private hospitals into one comprehensive healthcare system. BacCHP provides Bacolodnons with access to free annual preventive checkups, consultations, maintenance medicines, hospital assistance of up to PHP15,000, and a no-deposit admission policy.
'That is the healthy Bacolod we continue to build-a city where healthcare is never out of reach, where access saves lives,' Benitez stated. Under the current administration of Mayor Greg Gasataya, BacCHP has 155,952 members and has covered nearly PHP147.85 million in hospital expenses as of June.
Benitez asserted that BacCHP is making healthcare accessible to those who need it most. As a lawmaker, he is working towards extending this reality beyond Bacolod City and Negros Occidental to all Filipinos. He mentioned the filing of the Zero Balance Billing bill, which aims to strengthen coordination with the Department of Health (DOH) and Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth), allowing PhilHealth benefits to be fully integrated so that all hospitals provide zero balance billing.
In his State of the City Address on July 8, Mayor Gasataya announced that the national government has allocated PHP930 million for the ongoing establishment of the 127-bed Bacolod City General Hospital in Barangay Vista Alegre. The mayor, who authored the city hospital law as a congressman, stated that Phases 1, 2, and 3, including the main hospital building and the multi-purpose building, are fully complete, while Phase 4 is 90 percent complete. Phases 5, 6, and 7 are pending implementation.
Additionally, the proposed Bagong Urgent Care and Ambulatory Service (BUCAS) Plus Center, which will handle minor admissions in partnership with the Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital, is under construction, with completion targeted for April 16, 2027. The Bacolod City Health Complex, currently 44 percent complete, is expected to be finished by December 18 this year.
