Metropolitan Arrangements - Philippine Institute for Development ...

Case Study 2
Puerto Princesa City's,
Satellite Clinics:
A Curative Rural Network
Virginia S. Pineda
uerto Princesa City is the capit_ 1 of the province of Palawan
and the largest city in the country. With a total land area of
2,106.7 square kilometers, Puert a Princesa accounts for about
17 percent of the total land area of P_;twan. The city is composed of
66 barangays, 24 of which are urban a nd 42 are rural. It has about
25,542 households as of 1995.
The city's population increased fi om 92,147 in 1990 to 129,577
in i 995 or by 41 percent. About 65 perq :ent of the population resides
in the rural barangays. Settlement ._reas in the city are highly
dispersed. Population concentration i_ densest in the eastern coast,
where the city proper is located. Rural barangays are scattered over
the length of the city's coastline, with undeveloped tracts of lands
separating the eastern from the western barangays. Five rural
barangays in the west coast arca are almost blocked off by rugged
mountains and thick forest. Two of thes e barangays are not yet linked
to the city's road network system (Puerto Princesa City Local
Government Performance Report 1994i).
Health Facilities and Expenditure/]$udget
The city has one main heath cent :r, 18 barangay health stations
(BHSs), three hospitals, and five satellite clinics. The hospitals have
a total capacity of 175 beds: 75 in the go ternment hospital, the Puerto
Princesa Provincial Hospital, and 50 ea_:hin the two private hospitals.
Each satellite clinic has a capacity of fc ur to five beds. The hospitals
and satellite clinics serve patients fror _ the city as well as from the
neighboring municipalities of Palawan.