A new landmark will break ground this Wednesday, December 19, which promises to make Dumaguete City a major player in the medical tourism industry in Asia by 2015.
The South Sea Medical Center, a state-of-the-art 100-bed tertiary hospital with spacious parking areas, a helipad, gardens, wellness shops and restaurants also comes with souvenir shops, a swimming pool, a fitness center, vacation rooms/villas and a landscape garden with sitting areas.
Project Manager Arnold Antonio said the five-storey project will transform the South Sea Resort Hotel in barangay Bantayan into a world-class medical facility which envisions itself as a model of partnership between the hospital, physicians and patients.
“This medical resort will be the first-of-its kind in the Philippines,” Antonio said. The entire development, costing Php 1 billion, will be financed by commercial and local banks, he added.
In the 1990s, several groups also tried but were unable to establish another tertiary medical facility, mostly planned at the site of the TB Pavilion in barangay Talay.
Antonio said that previous attempts at establishing another hospital in Dumaguete were hindered by the unavailability of lots, the huge cost of the building and hospital equipment.
Then there was the problem of the lengthy permit application from the Department of Health and the local permits of Dumaguete City.
In the second half of 2009, a group composed of Elma Aznar-Sierra, Dr. Grace Valdez, Engr. Arnold Antonio, Dr. Brenda Diputado and Dr. Jonathan Amante met with some practicing consultants as well as medical suppliers of laboratory equipments.
They initially planned to have the hospital established at the Sierra compound along E.J. Blanco Street but the idea did not materialize. Soon, the opportunity came for former Senator John Henry Osmena to buy the South Sea Resort from the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation, which became the new venue for the hospital.
Antonio said a total of 220 clinics and condominium units will be sold after the groundbreaking ceremony. The first 100 buyers during the ground-breaking on Wednesday will get one free share of hospital stocks, he added.
