A new community hospital will soon rise in Apalit town, this province to provide local residents better access to medical services.

The Department of Public Works and Highways’ First District Engineering Office (DPWH-1st DEO) presented the design of the hospital to Governor Dennis Pineda and Apalit Mayor Jun Tetangco at the capitol on Wednesday.

Engineer Alfie Lejarde, maintenance section chief of DPWH’s 1st DEO, said the funding for the first phase of the project worth some PHP70.2 million was sourced from the General Appropriations Act under the National Building Program.

“It needed around PHP170 million more, which is being sourced, for additional works,” Lejarde said in an interview.

The four-story hospital features 24 five-bed wards, including rooms for radiology, obstetrics-gynecology, maternity, pharmacy, dental, pediatrics, and surgery.

The governor thanked the DPWH for helping secure the initial funding.

He said the provincial government will oversee the operations of the community hospital.

The municipality of Apalit, on the other hand, donated a 1,496-square meter of land in Barangay Sampaloc for the construction of the hospital.

This would be the 11th district hospital in Pampanga. The province operates the Diosdado P. Macapagal Memorial Provincial Hospital and 10 district hospitals. (PNA)