Man of ‘soon’

Mayor Francis Zamora clears it up: there’s no Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) yet at San Juan Medical Center. Fake news, he says.

Good news, though. “We’re going to have one soon!” Very soon. His results have been coming soon for a while.

In San Juan, “soon” is a fantastic place. Everything arrives there. Patients, meanwhile, go somewhere else.

And that would be fine. If this were a small town.

This is a P3-billion city. And almost eight years in, Mr. Mayor. In your 2019 campaign, you called the city’s lone hospital “the lowest of the low.”

That kind of starting point demands speed.

From “lowest of the low,” you expect the fastest of the fastest. San Juan got “step by step.”

Step by step. Right up to the term limit. By the time it’s done, it’s the next elections.

Convenient steps.

For an MRI.

If something this basic takes that long, you start to understand everything else.

At San Juan Medical Center, the upgrades are widely seen as “slow, uneven and still not enough,” despite an increasing budget every year — from P61 million in 2001 to P644 million this year.

But if the budget is “the proof of priority,” then outcomes should be proof of delivery.

We get it, mayor, basketball courts are important.

They just weren’t the ones labeled “the lowest of the low.”

And the answer takes a little trip back to the old days. Very popular place, that past.

Before, he said, the fan needed fixing. The elevator needed a priest.

Now they’re doing great.

You? Not so much. You still have to leave the hospital to get treated.

And then you meet the attitude. A very important part of the experience. Because you can inherit buildings, equipment; you don’t inherit how people treat patients.

Nobody walks in and says, “Ah, this must be from 2019.”

Francis, we love a good before and after. But if the explanation is the past, then be precise.

Say Guia Gomez. Say 2019. Say what was actually there.

Because in 2019, when you took over, it wasn’t empty. The building was almost done. Equipment was newly delivered — CT, labs, blood bank. Ready to go.

Francis, you didn’t inherit a blank slate. You inherited “almost done.” And somehow, “almost done” turned into seven years of “almost there.”

Some of those same machines reappeared as “new” just last year. Very nice unveiling. Late activation. Brand-new announcement.

And now, referrals again. CT reportedly “broken.” Which raises a very stubborn question: Francis, if the machines were already there, why did they need a second grand opening?

The previous administration left with a plan already. Phase 2. Dialysis center. Very important. That’s how you get to Level 2. Everybody knows. Then you look today. No dialysis in SJMC. Francis, where is the dialysis center?

Because you keep saying “Level 2.” Big upgrade. Very proud. Sounds like we’ve reached very, very far.

But Level 2 is supposed to mean you can actually handle things, like dialysis, Francis.

Somewhere along the way, the plan changed, and the patient took a ride to Cardinal Santos.

What happened? Dialysis was the plan. A wellness center got the space. In a public hospital. That’s a very relaxed solution to a very urgent problem.

“Calming space. Low stress.”

Exactly what you want right before they tell you to go to Cardinal Santos.

The classification improved faster than the capability. If access still feels limited, the label is ahead of reality. If patients are still being referred out, they don’t feel Level 2. They feel Level “go somewhere else.”