ILOILO CITY (PIA) -- More “Super Health Centers” (SHCs) in Western Visayas are bound to be constructed with the recent groundbreaking ceremonies led by Senator Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go together with the respective local officials in Maasin, Iloilo, and in Kalibo, Numancia, and Tangalan towns, province of Aklan.
Go, who chairs the Senate Committee on Health and Demography, vowed to continue supporting the establishment of more Super Health Centers across the country, citing how these SHCs can significantly help reduce hospital occupancy rates and bring crucial basic health services closer to those in need, particularly in the grassroots.
Some services offered in these SHCs include database management, out-patient, birthing, isolation, diagnostic such as laboratory, including x-ray and ultrasound, pharmacy and ambulatory surgical unit, a press release noted.
Likewise, other amenities available are eye, ear, nose, and throat (EENT) service, oncology centers, physical therapy and rehabilitation center and telemedicine, where remote diagnosis and treatment of patients will be made accessible.
Per report, some 307 SHCs were funded in 2022 through Go’s initiative and about 322 centers of its kind are projected to be put up this year.
In Aklan, the SHC in Ibajay was funded under the Department of Health's (DOH) 2022 budget.
For 2023, more SHCs will be established in the said province apart from the areas where the groundbreaking was recently held, particularly in the towns of Balete, Batan, Malay, Nabas, and New Washington.
Go also enjoined the public to apply for medical assistance from the Malasakit Center at Dr. Rafael S. Tumbokon Memorial Hospital in Kalibo, Aklan which is among the 154 Malasakit Centers nationwide.
It could be noted that the Senator has principally authored and sponsored Republic Act No. 11463, otherwise known as the Malasakit Centers Act of 2019, to ensure that particularly poor and indigent patients have easier access to quality healthcare services.
Further, the Senator led a relief operation where he handed out grocery packs, vitamins, meals, masks, shirts, and umbrellas to typhoon victims in the towns he recently visited.
Meanwhile, the Department of Social Welfare and Development, through its Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situa-
tion (AICS) program, has extended financial aid alongside Go’s visit to various towns to help the residents affected by the typhoon sustain their basic needs.
Forming part of Go's sidelines during his visit in the region on January 21, he also led a relief operation for tornado victims in Oton, Iloilo and attended the “Kasadyahan sa Kabanwahanan” tribe competition of Dinagyang Festival 2023 in Iloilo City, and the Ati-atihan Coronation Night in Ibajay, Aklan. (JBG/AGP/PIA 6)
