From controversial beginning a building rises up in the middle of nowhere.
Though awkward in location, the city hospital from a distance shows beauty and
grandeur. It has no rival in an open farmland landscape. A wide flowers-divided
road is prevailing to solely access the facility from the main highway. It
looks impressive.
Amidst sweltering heat that Wednesday afternoon, we parked in front the
hospital. There was no problem with parking. Ours was the only car in the
vicinity. The main entrance was closed. We walked few feet away to a doorway
full of people. It was the entrance for emergency cases. We squeezed our way in
and what we saw inside was beyond belief.
Fronting a counter was a long and narrow concrete corridor full of people.
About a hundred were lining up waiting their turn at the counter. The
temperature was very hot. Some were sitting on the floor. Others were leaning
on the wall and the rest did agonize to stand on line. Their appearance implied
that they were the city's poor.
The counter attendant and the security guard saw us approaching. They stood up,
left the counter and met us to extend courtesy. I was wondering why we had
especial VIP treatment. My wife and I were just there to visit a patient.
We insisted to find our way to Room 101. We didn't want to compromise the
counter unmanned. But they were persistent to escort us that we obliged what
they wanted. It turned out to be a good idea, because with a maze of dark
corridors inside, it would have been difficult to go anywhere without a guide.
By the aisle an elderly woman lay on bed. She was barely skin and bones. She
was left alone unattended. She stared at me without saying a word. She seemed
to be dying. The expression in her eyes was something I can't forget. I was
sadly taken why a person in such condition was allowed to just stay in a
hospital corridor.
Room 101 was bare concrete compartment. There was nothing in it but a crude bed
with patient at every corner. Around each bed was a fairly sized group of
people. This turned the supposedly hospital ward into a crowded room with no
place to sit. I was offered a stool.
The situation was bizarre. My odd sense of humor entailed that it was kind of
funny. These were the times that we just have to bow down to the absurd. Being
in the nutshell, the poor believes that these things are normal. They are
contented because there is nothing in mind to compare. Ignorance is bliss.
But from people with outside emersion to high social benchmark look at this as
injustice. And it is. They have gone beyond the guise of perverted innocence to
know that disparity rendered towards the least fortunate, the sick and the
dying is a malevolent disgrace.
I would have dug a little deeper had my intention was to write. Suffice to say
that this narrative is from cursory observation. But things I saw from face
value account could not be farther from actuality. There is no explanation
regardless of reason that could dissuade me to suppose that our city hospital
inTiniwisan is but an elaborate storage of ailing people. It's a warehouse for
the sick, no less no more.
What we are seeing outside is an expensive facade. The facility is not ready
for business. The building is still not suited for occupancy. There is no
medical supply at hand. Recovery from ailment is not much different from
traditional village arbularyo.
Blame serves no purpose. It doesn't make it any better. What we have is a
problem that needs resolution. Looking towards public sources could only give
us indigestion. They are already up on their eyeballs with pressing
responsibilities. There is not much money to go around. What they have is
already allocated on something more important.
It appears therefore that solution should come from concerned Butuanons locally
and afar. Por Cristo was a good example. We helped to relocate the abandoned
seniors from that deplorable chicken house in Libertad to a more comfortable
place in Abilan. I was there lately to see that all forty two dwellers were
doing well. The nipa roofing and the sawali cubicle partitions however showed
some degree of wear and tear that it needed replacement. Father Dennis was
aiming for a permanent concrete building to lessen the danger of fire in the
compound.
But predicament the likes of Por Cristo is a drop in the bucket compared to the
massive dilemma of curing and healing the sick of Butuan. The city in its
fiscal limitation is not in the possession to provide adequate medical care.
Gracious goodness therefore shall come from people with compassion to help out.
A shipping container full of medical equipment was delivered to the Butuan City
Medical Center. This was from the kind initiative of Agusanon in Texas. This is
indeed a huge shot in the arm. It is a most welcome rain over parch barren
land.
Information came that the Provincial Hospital in Libertad is a 'hundred folds'
worst in condition than the city hospital in Tiniwisan. I've seen Tiniwisan and
if Libertad hospital is farther worst, I don't want to see it. It could be too
much for an old man's heart to absorb. The one in Tiniwisan was already a
nightmare.
Another Butuanon group is lining up to send also a container of medical
equipment to the Provincial Hospital in Libertad. Butuan Global Foundation is
the vanguard on this venture. Of course, there is always a question of money.
It needs $7000 shipping fees to Butuan.
Butuanons are always open hearted when it comes to good causes. I was invited
to a group of prominent people in a significant occasion last homecoming. It
was there where outpouring generosity was rendered willingly. A politician was
even hinting that there was more in the purse before the end of June. It was a
meaningful experience. Accolades were raised and feelings expressed. They were
commemorating a 103-year old tree.
This further manifested our good and charitable nature. We all love Butuan. We
must recognize that such could also mean to carry a little weight of caring
towards the needs of our people. Our public hospitals are in bad shape. It can
not provide appropriate medical care anymore. It needs our help.
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