R1MC’s Malasakit Center set to open Feb. 26
THE Malasakit Center at the Region 1 Medical Center here is set to be formally inaugurated on February 26 to provide a one-stop shop service to indigent patients at this hospital.
Dr. Joseph Roland Mejia, R1MC chief, said President Rodrigo Duterte and his former Special Assistant Christopher ‘Bong’ Go are expected to lead in the opening rites.
He said the Malasakit Center enhances R1MC’s Patient Action Center “but it is enhanced”.
He said PAC can only assist by providing treatment to patients, but patients on their own must travel to seek financial assistance from agencies like the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office’s (PCSO), Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR).
The Malasakit Center has been organized in coordination with the Office of the President, PCSO, PAGCOR, PhilHealth, Department of Health and Department of Social Welfare and Development, Mejia said.
The agencies will each have a table at the Malasakit Center with their respective representatives to process and endorse patients’ needs and concerns without need to travel to the agencies’ offices, Mejia said.
He said they expect more than 3,000 Barangay Health Workers (BHWs) to attend the inauguration so they can help advise and promote the services at the center.
Under the Health Care Law, Mejia said one of its provisions is each Filipino citizen should have a PhilHealth coverage and they will be the ones who can avail of the services of the Malasakit Center if they lack money to pay for their hospital bills.
The Office of the President targets that all government hospitals should have Malasakit Center, he said.
R1MC’s Malasakit Center is the first to be formally inaugurated in Pangasinan, Mejia added.
Meanwhile, Mejia said the R1MC’s Cancer Center is also set to be opened with a 47-room dormitory located in the Doña Teodora Manaois Memorial Complex in Barangay Bonuan Binloc here which is just awaiting the installation of CT Simulator, Brachytherapy, Linear Accelerator and Mammogram to jumpstart its operation.
“We expect it to be done within the first half of this year,” he said. (PhilStar Wire Service)
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