Plan to build hospital depends on effective public transport—Ang

The plan of business tycoon Ramon S. Ang to build a hospital that specializes in infectious disease research hinges on an effective public transportation.

“Kung may public transport na makakapunta nang madali, then I will proceed in building that right away,” said Ang. “Tinitignan ko iyong viability, kung madaling sumakay ang tao papunta roon. If you put up a hospital ang importante ay iyung transportation ng mga ordinary empleyado at iyong mga pasyente.”

He announced in September last year that the RSA Foundation would built a hospital on a 3- to 5-hectare property in the southern part of Luzon to help “future-proof society post-pandemic” and provide care for ambulatory patients.

He said last week that he bought a 10-hectare property in Laguna where the state-of-the-art facility would be located. “Nakahanap ako ng kapalit na lupa dito sa may Laguna, sa may tabi ng Brent. Meron akong nabili doon, 10 hectares.”

The hospital will also feature a research facility that will provide support for government on public health concerns, specifically, infectious diseases.

“This pandemic has been an eye-opener for all of us. Our healthcare system needs to be strengthened. For this reason, we want to help build up our country’s capability to handle future pandemics and other health crises.

We envision this hospital to be resilient and adaptable. It will operate efficiently, improve health services, and make health care more accessible and affordable to a greater number of Filipinos,” Ang said.

Under Ang’s leadership, conglomerate San Miguel Corp. has earmarked P500 million out of its over P13 billion Covid-19 response package as donation to government and public and private hospitals. These funded the procurement of various medical-grade personal protective gear and life-saving, capacity-building medical equipment.

Article and Photo originally posted by Business Mirror last March 23, 2021 and written by Lenie Lecturia.