SAN FERNANDO CITY, La Union — The Ilocos Training and Regional Medical Center (ITRMC) in this city now boasts five newly designated specialty centers, offering more specialized services to its clients in the province of La Union and its adjacent areas.
ITRMC Medical Center Chief II, Dr. Eduardo Badua III, said that the specialty centers are a response to the evolving healthcare needs of hospital clients as well as in adherence to the Universal Health Care Act of 2019.
“We need to be able to address the different health needs of our clients if we are to become an apex hospital, which means we will become an end-referral hospital [for specialized services] here in our area,” Badua III added.
He said that the development of the specialty centers also came as a result of the five-year development plan crafted in 2018 upon his arrival at the ITRMC as its chief.
Among the specialized centers already in operation are the advanced eye care and basic trauma care which were completed in 2022 and the neonatal care and orthopedic care which were completed in 2023.
The specialized center for mental health meanwhile opened in the first semester of 2024.
He added that the identification of the specialized centers already in operation depended on the hospital’s capacity to provide such services, including the number of staff trained and their ability to provide specialty care.
“We first developed specialty centers where we are already complete in terms of manpower, equipment, and infrastructure. We needed to fill-out a checklist given by the Department of Health to assess our readiness,” he said.
Badua III added that the hospital is looking to add more to its roster of specialty centers, which they target to complete by 2028, including basic brain and spine care, heart care, and geriatric care.
With the specialty centers now in La Union, the center chief said that patients no longer need to travel to Manila to get specialized treatment, and they will be able to get these services anytime the need arises.
“Healthcare should be accessed when and where people need it. Now that we have these specialized centers here, expenses will also decrease because they no longer need to travel,” he said.
Frances Villanueva, from Agoo, La Union, is meanwhile thrilled with the newest specialized centers that are already providing care for patients, noting how the centers will provide necessary services to vulnerable sectors of the province.
“The centers are timely because we have a lot of people who cannot afford quality healthcare. Having these centers can help improve the health of the marginalized in La Union,” Villanueva said.
The plan of the ITRMC to develop its services stretches as far as 2040, in line with the country’s long-term vision and aspiration under Ambisyon Natin 2040, with continuous tinkering of its plan to keep up with the evolving and changing health landscape in the Ilocos Region. (AMB/CCMT, PIA La Union)
