Health Secretary Paulyn Jean B. Rosell-Ubial on Friday maintained that the Dr. Jose Fabella Memorial Hospital in Sta. Cruz, Manila is set for transfer.

"Construction is ongoing, and we are in constant communication with staff of Fabella. The goal is to really transfer the hospital. May grupo na ayaw mag-transfer, so we are still negotiating with them. Eventually, kung natapos yung new building [it will be] for a full transfer to a new building," she said.

Ubial said, an external committee has examined the site to assess the structural and engineering integrity of buildings.

"It was concluded that it’s no longer safe, particularly if we will have an earthquake because the buildings are also not designed as a hospital. It was also not complying with fire safety standards," she said.

The Manila City Engineer, she also noted, said the buildings can still be retrofitted, but it is estimated to cost more than P100-million.

"So instead of retrofitting an old building where we’ll still face lots of problems, we would rather use the money to build and refurbish the new one," she said.

The Fabella Hospital, which has been dubbed a "baby factory" because of the sheer volume of births there, is the go-to maternity facility of the poor.

Members of the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) confined at the 65-year-old hospital are not charged a single centavo unless they exceed the insurance allocation of government.

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There is strong opposition to the hospital's transfer, and Ubial asserted that they are in constant negotiation with the group to be able to reach an agreeable decision.

"Yung katulad nga sa West Philippine Sea, sabi ni Presidente, walang katapusang usapan kasi kapayapaan ang gusto natin. We don’t want to coerce or impose ourselves on people so it’s a constant dialogue with all the personnel involved.