LANAO DEL SUR--The Bangsamoro Parliament unanimously passed a bill that aims to upgrade the Unayan Municipal Hospital in the municipality of Binidayan, this province.

By a 50-0 vote, the Parliament approved on third and final reading Bill No. 74 or the Unayan Municipal Hospital Upgrading Act of 2022, principally authored by Members of Parliament Saffrullah Dipatuan and Romeo Saliga.

The existing Unayan Municipal Hospital will undergo expansion to become a district hospital with a capacity of fifty beds, an increase from its current ten authorized bed capacity.

“I have visited the said hospital several times and I have witnessed its condition and the dire need to upgrade and standardize it,” said MP Dipatuan, noting that the BARMM government should strengthen the healthcare delivery system by upgrading hospitals in the region.

Landscaping, medical and office equipment, other facilities, as well as operating funds and personnel will all be upgraded, including the construction and procurement.

For the upgrading of the hospital, all pertinent and relevant provisions from the Universal Health Care Act will be integrated into the hospital’s system and operations.

It will be under the administrative supervision of the Ministry of Health, which is authorized to determine and approve the appropriate organizational structure for the management and operations of the facility.

The bill states that funds for the upgrading of the said hospital will be appropriated from the Bangsamoro General Appropriations Act, including the construction, acquisition of medical and office equipment, and the annual budget needed for personnel services, maintenance, operations, and other expenses.

All those laws and regulations passed by the BARMM government, including those passed by the defunct ARMM government, regarding the operations of the Unayan Municipal Hospital that are not consistent with the act are repealed under the measure. (LTAIS-Public Information, Publication, and Media Relations Division)