Tacloban City (October 19) -- The building which will house the St. Porziuncula Hospital in Calbayog City was blessed on October 15 with no less than the provincial head of the Franciscan Fathers which manages the Christ the King College, and the city officials headed by Mayor Mel Senen Sarmiento in attendance.

The blessing of the Porziuncula Hospital Building which is located at the compound of the Christ the King College Compound is made more significant because it is a showcase of the Church working hand in hand with the Government. It is a tangible manifestation at how effective the partnership between and private sector and the government could be.

As Father Antonio Rosales, the parish priest of the Forbes Park Parish in Makati said, where for many years, the Franciscan fathers have been helping through education, this time, it will be working hand in hand with the government in the healing of the sick.

The more than 100-bed hospital will have a forty-bed charity ward which will be financed by the City Government of Calbayog. This will mean that the disadvantaged people will be able to avail of hospital services for free courtesy of the City Government of Calbayog.

The hospital is indeed the fruit of the cooperative efforts of many sectors including the alumni who also worked hard to be able to solicit donations for the putting up of the hospital.

The hospital is very much needed because the existing hospitals in the city are not able to accommodate the sick people from Calbayog and the neighboring municipalities. When completed, the hospital will offer modern services which will include dialysis and city scan which are not readily available in the island of Samar.