The Philippine consortium formed by Megawide Construction Corp. and World Citi Inc. has been declared the winner for the new Philippine Orthopedic Center (POC) PPP project.

The consortium bid P5.672 billion (US$131 million) for the project, which the government had said would cost P5.7 billion (US$131.5 million). The consortium was the only bidder for the project.

The POC project involves the increase in bed capacity from the current 300 beds to 700 beds, the modernized POC will require a total of 1,575 staff from its present 927 staff or a hefty 70% increase in employment.

With the contract already awarded, construction work on the new POC site at the National Kidney and Transplant Institute (NKTI) Compound in East Avenue is targeted to start on the second half of 2014.

Health Undersecretary and Bids and Awards Committee Chair Teodoro Herbosa reiterated that while the project was already awarded to the private sector who will design, build, finance and operate and maintain the facility, for 25 years, government still retains ownership of the POC.

Teodoro Herbosa said:

The POC will remain a government agency but now with access to extensive financial and technologically-advanced resources provided by the private sector. This is the advantage of structuring this project under a PPP arrangement. Government is partnering with Megawide-World Citi Consortium for 25 years which is the agreed concession period. During that time they will maintain and operate the POC.  This gives government more fiscal space to fund other health projects. The DOH will make sure that they will deliver the agreed superior medical services that we asked of them and bring these medical benefits down to the neediest patient