Valenzuela Medical Center (Photo courtesy ofRep. Eric Martinez) MANILA - Valenzuela City Rep. Eric Martinez on Tuesday said the Valenzuela Medical Center (VMC) expansion would improve quality health services to more residents and become the "People's Choice" by 2028 by providing institutionalized patient-centered and pandemic-resilient healthcare. In a statement, Martinez thanked President Rodrigo Roa Duterte for delivering his campaign promise of expanding VMC's operational capacity to meet the growing needs of the constituents through the construction of a four-story building. Martinez is one of the authors of Republic Act No. 11327 in 2018 to legislate the increase of VMC's bed capacity from 200 to 500, adjusting to the increasing demand for public health care in the city. The PHP208-million project will also include an expanded Radiology Department, Operating Room Complex and Surgical Intensive Care, Hemodialysis, Chemotherapy and Ambulatory Surgical Units. Martinez said he had a brief talk with the then-presidential candidate and Davao City Mayor Duterte six years ago about his request to enhance the public hospital if he gets to Malacanang. "Sabi ko, 'Tatay, 'pag ikaw na ang Presidente ng Pilipinas, iyang ospital na 'yan, sana po'y maiayos natin. Tumango ang Tatay Digong sa 'kin. Sabi niya, 'Eric 'wag ka mag-alala. Once we get to Malacanang, we'll work on it' (I said 'Tatay, if ever you become the President of the Philippines, hopefully, that hospital would be enhanced. Tatay Digong nodded at me. He said, 'Eric don't worry. Once we get to Malacanang, we'll work on it')." he said. Since the granting of VMC expansion in 2018, the hospital has built an Infectious Disease Clinic and Warehouse building which has a 134-bed operating capacity, two emergency rooms - one for infectious and another for non-infectious diseases, and a Malasakit Center. To date, VMC specializes in neonatal, geriatrics, dermatology, ophthalmology, trauma, burn management, cancer care, stroke care, emerging and re-emerging infectious disease, and hemodialysis. The project is expected to be completed by June 2023. The project was initiated by the office of Senator Christopher Lawrence Go through the Department of Health's Health Facilities Enhancement Program. (PNA) }