A lawmaker in this province said a major hurdle in the way of upgrading the Bay District Hospital into a general hospital has been surmounted.

Laguna 2nd District Representative Ruth Mariano-Hernandez made this statement after the House of Representatives approved on third and final reading House Bill 1716, otherwise known as “An Act Converting the Bay District Hospital in the Municipality of Bay, Province of Laguna into a General Hospital.”

Mariano-Hernandez, who authored the bill in the Lower House, said it is now up to the Senate and President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to ultimately enact the measure.

“The nine district hospitals managed by the provincial government will have to cope-up with the medical needs of the growing population of more than 3 million based on the latest census. In the Calabarzon Region, Laguna is the only province where there is no DOH-managed general hospital,” she said in a social media post on Tuesday.

“We need to improve and upgrade the capacity of our health care system to meet the needs of our growing population,” she added.

If the bill is eventually enacted, Bay town’s district hospital will be known as the “Laguna Regional Hospital.”

As a general hospital, it will then be allocated more funds, allowing it to deliver better medical services to more patients in the province.

Management of the hospital will also be transferred from the provincial government to the Department of Health. (PNA)