Gov. Pineda (left) welcomes Lee after his group joined the inspection of the Bacolor district hospital on Thursday. With them are (L-R) Board Members Garbo, Tolentino and Laus, Ho Choi, Choi and Dr. Sonny Aquino.
Photo by Ric Gonzales
BACOLOR, Pampanga – Korean businessmen vowed to help Gov. Lilia “Baby” Pineda in improving a district hospital here by donating medical equipment needed for its full operation. It is expected to open late this year.
Pineda, together with Koreans Jin-Hwa Lee, president of the Kumsang Pharm Co., Ltd., and his companions Choi Seung-Ho and JP Choi, visited the Ricardo Rodriguez Hospital (RRH) recently.
Board Members Cris Garbo, Raul Macalino, Nestor Tolentino and Monina “Monz” Laus also joined in welcoming the Koreans during the inspection of the hospital.
“We are here to see what’s best we can give to the hospital. But there will be,” Lee said.
Pineda thanked Lee’s group, saying “we can really provide decent medical care in all areas in Pampanga with the help of many.”
Laus, chairman of the committee on health, said they welcome the help of Lee. “Hospital beds and other useful medical equipment are really needed.”
Dr. Antonio Ong, head of the RRH, said the private contractor is set to turn over the building on November 30, 2011. He said “we will try our best to open the hospital by December as requested by the governor.”
Garbo said Pineda had pushed for the completion and operations of the RRH so that Bacolor residents would return to their home town.
Lahar spawned by the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo devastated several villages in Bacolor in 1995, including the present site of the RRH.
Pampanga Third District Rep. Aurelio Gonzales funded the construction of the RRH early 2010 but the hospital was not finished for unknown reasons.
However, Garbo said that Pineda allotted another P10 million for the completion of the hospital building.
