NOW is not a good time to get sick and be hospitalized.

Most of the hospitals in Dagupan could not operate owing to the flooding in their premises.

Of the 11 public and private hospitals in the city, only one, the Pangasinan Medical Center (PMC) on Nable Street in Barangay Pantal, was spared from the flood.

PMC, a hospital owned by the University of Pangasinan, is located at a higher elevation and was not reached by flood coming from the overflowing Pantal River.

The flood in the city reached as high as 12 feet in some areas.

Dagupan City Councilor Jesus Canto cited his family-owned Dagupan Medical Centrum in Barangay Tambac that lost expensive laboratory and medical equipment estimated at P20 million.

The biggest losses were suffered by the government-owned Region 1 Medical Center (R1MC) where expensive surgical and medical equipment were swamped by the flood Thursday and Friday.

Canto said equipment of R1MC’s intensive care unit, like Echo Cardiogram (ECG) machine, ventilators and others were submerged by the flood can no longer be used while chest x-ray and CT scan were damaged but may be restored in time.

Total damage was initially estimated at P300 million.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, who vi-sited the hospital on Tuesday after the cabinet meeting at West Central School, presided over by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, vowed to replace some of the damaged equipment.

The Villaflor Memorial Doctors Hospital in Barangay Mayombo was flooded up to three feet, damaging equipment and facilities, including office fixtures and records.

It is now “business as usual” in the hospital, said owner Dr. Vivencio Villaflor Jr.

Other hospitals in the city that were flooded include the Trauma Specialist Hospital and Luzon Medical Center, the Lyceum-Northwestern University Family Hospital, and Cuison Clinic, all in barangay Tapuac; the Nazareth Hospital and Ramos Children’s Hospital on Perez Boulevard; and Decena Hospital in Bonuan.

It was not immediately learned whether the Dagupan Orthopedic Hospital in Tapuac and the Cipriana Coquia Dialysis Center were also affected by the flood.

The hospital owners are asking the President to direct government banks and commercial banks to grant them special loan privileges for the rehabilitation of their medical facilities.

Canto said the proposal is for a P10 to P20 million loan per hospital, at zero interest for the first year.—LM

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