ILOILO CITY (PIA) — The recently inaugurated Heart and Lung Care Center (HLCC) at the Western Visayas Medical Center (WVMC) in Iloilo City is expected to aid the healthcare needs of the region, particularly for patients who seek treatment for cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases.
The HLCC, with a funding of P449-million for its first phase, has state-of-the-art facilities and equipment focused on increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of surgical procedures, benefiting patients from Iloilo, Aklan, Antique, Capiz, Guimaras, and Negros Occidental.
“As we inaugurate the cardiovascular and lung care center, we affirm our role as a Regional Apex hospital in the region. By consolidating heart and lung subspecialty services under one roof, we are not only streamlining patient care but also raising the standard of excellence in cardiovascular and pulmonary care,” said WVMC Heart Center head Dr. Mae Dagooc.
Dagooc added that the heart center has comprehensive services, including diagnosis and treatment of heart conditions, interventional cardiology procedures, and cardiothoracic surgeries, while the pulmonary care facility offers diagnosis and management of lung diseases; pulmonary function testing, bronchoscopy, treatment modalities, and advanced imaging services.
DOH Undersecretary Dr. Gloria Balboa, Iloilo City Lone District Rep. Julienne Baronda, Senator JV Ejercito, and DOH-6 director Adriano Subaan (from left to right) lead the unveiling of the marker during the inauguration of the WVMC Heart and Lung Care Center in Iloilo City on April 26. (JNH/PIA Iloilo photo)
The center also housed operating theaters to facilitate better turnaround times of surgical procedures and decrease backlogs. It will likewise provide better service delivery with improved infrastructure provided to patients and clients.
Data from the WVMC indicated that they already catered to around 3,878 in-patients, performed 310 cardiovascular surgeries, and initiated 1,462 cardiac catheterization procedures from 2021-2023, which the management expected to improve with the full operation of the new HLCC in May 2024.
Meanwhile, Iloilo City Lone District Rep. Julienne “Jamjam” Baronda, who pushed for the realization of the center together with Senator JV Ejercito through Republic Act (RA) 11496, said that the facility is a
big help to lessen the expenses of the patients as they don’t need to go to Manila or the Philippine Heart Center anymore to seek premium medical care.
“This is a product of our collaboration to bring better medical services to all of you. Our patients needing critical treatment no longer need to go to Manila and seek referral to higher-level facilities because we already have HLCC here,” Baronda said.
Baronda and Ejercito authored RA 11496 in their respective chambers, increasing the bed capacity of the WVMC from 425 beds to 700 beds, upgrading its professional health care services and facilities, and authorizing the increase of its medical personnel.
Aside from the inauguration of the HLCC, both lawmakers, together with Department of Health (DOH) Undersecretary Dr. Gloria Balboa, DOH-6 director Adriano Subaan, WVMC director Dr. Joseph Dean Nicolo and other hospital officials, also led the groundbreaking ceremony of the six-storey Cancer Care Center funded through the Health Facility Enhancement Program on April 26. (AAL/JNH/PIA Iloilo)
