The Cebu Provincial Government opened the 40-bed Pasilungan Center on Oct. 26, 2026, offering priority temporary shelter for families of Cebu Province residents staying at VSMMC.
The opening follows public controversy over VSMMC’s one-watcher-per-patient policy, which led family members to sleep outside on cardboard due to hospital crowding concerns.
Operated by PSWDO from 9 p.m. to 8 a.m., the center uses two smart houses with 20 foldable beds each and requires social worker referral and ID assessment
FAMILIES keeping watch over patients at the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC) in Cebu City can now spend the night at the Cebu Provincial Government’s Pasilungan Center, a temporary shelter with room for 40 people that opened Monday, Oct. 26, 2026.
The center gives priority to Cebu Province residents and is supervised by the Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office (PSWDO).
Provincial Health Consultant Elisse Nicole Catalan said at the ceremonial ribbon cutting that the facility is meant to give families accompanying VSMMC patients somewhere to stay.
How families get in
PSWDO head Mary Rose Lopez said VSMMC’s medical social workers will refer families and give her office a list of authorized watchers. Each watcher must present an identification card to provincial social workers for assessment and a possible interview.
The center starts operating Tuesday, Oct. 27, on a first-come, first-served basis, subject to capacity, Lopez said.
What the center offers
The center faces the Cebu Maternity Hospital beside VSMMC, near the Provincial Government’s food strip at Larsian. It has two smart houses with 20 foldable beds each, one for men and one for women, and is open from 9 p.m. to 8 a.m.
Lopez said the funding came from the Office of the Governor but declined to disclose the amount.
Watcher policy
The opening follows VSMMC’s implementation of its one-watcher-per-patient policy, which became controversial after on social media when photos showed family members of patients sleeping on cardboard outside the hospital. Under Hospital Order 2024-123, only one screened and authorized watcher may stay at a patient’s bedside.
In an Oct. 8 statement, VSMMC said it had earlier worked with local government partners on temporary lodging and transport for watchers but stopped because few people used them.
VSMMC Chief Dr. Gerardo Aquino said allowing several watchers per patient would worsen congestion in a hospital that handles 1,700 to 1,800 outpatient consultations a day.
“But we also recognize that the patient experience does not end within the walls of our hospital,” Aquino said.
Hospital’s own plan
VSMMC is also building a four-story Kaambag Clinic whose ground floor will be a waiting and resting area for watchers, particularly those with patients in the emergency room. Aquino said it should be finished by the end of the year.
Gov. Pamela Baricuatro said the Provincial Government had ordered the facility prepared earlier and that its opening was overdue.
“Having someone in the hospital is already difficult. Families should not have to worry about where they will sleep for the night,” Baricuatro said. / CDF