Senator Bong Go welcomed the efforts of the Department of Health and the local government of Igbaras, Iloilo for the groundbreaking of its new Super Health Center.
In his video message, the chairperson of the Senate Committee on Health and Demography reassured that more Super Health Centers are expected to be established nationwide, particularly in rural areas to ensure that the most disadvantaged would not need to travel far to get the basic health services they need.
Apart from Igbaras, Super Health Centers in the province will also be established in Iloilo City, and the towns of Anilao which Go visited last November 11 to conduct a site inspection, Carles, Maasin, Pavia, Sara, and San Joaquin — the last one’s groundbreaking having been personally witnessed by the legislator and Senator Robin Padilla earlier in August.
Twelve new additional Super Health Centers in Iloilo are also funded in the 2023 budget.
“Isa po talaga sa mga advocacy ko ang health. Nung dumating ang pandemya sa bansa, nabigla po talaga ang lahat lalo na po ang ating health sector. Kaya naman marapat na mag-invest tayo lalo sa pagpapalakas ng ating healthcare system,” the lawmaker said.
“As Committee Chair on Health, tutulong ako sa abot ng aking makakaya kung paano pa ang pag-improve ng inyong Super Health Center.”
“As Committee Chair on Health, tutulong ako sa abot ng aking makakaya kung paano pa ang pag-improve ng inyong Super Health Center. Akin lang ipapaliwanag sa inyo itong Super Health Center, maliit lang itong building. ‘Yung manganganak pwede nang manganak, birthing facilities, dental, laboratory pwede na. Alam n’yo, kawawa ‘yung mga malalayong lugar na walang health center. ‘Yung iba nanganganak na lang sa tricycle, sa taxi dahil malayo sa lugar,” the senator added.
Services offered in Super Health Centers include database management, out-patient, birthing, isolation, diagnostic (laboratory: x-ray and ultrasound), pharmacy and ambulatory surgical unit.
Other available services 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 done.
He earlier cited that the government has allocated sufficient funds under the 2022 Health Facilities Enhancement Program for the construction of at least 307 Super Health Centers nationwide.
Go has also successfully pushed for more SHCs to be funded under the 2023 national budget.
Meanwhile, he likewise highlighted that medical assistance programs are more conveniently accessible through the four Malasakit Centers in the province, located at Western Visayas Medical Center and West Visayas State University Medical Center, both in Iloilo City; Don Jose D. Monfort Medical Center Extension Hospital in Barotac Nuevo; and Western Visayas Sanitarium in Sta. Barbara.
Go shared that the Malasakit Centers program started when he witnessed the struggles of financially incapacitated families to get the medical services they need.
For this reason, he initiated the said program and later principally authored and sponsored Republic Act No. 11463, which institutionalized the program.
The Malasakit Center is a one-stop shop that brings together all relevant agencies, including the Department of Social Welfare and Development, the Department of Health, the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation, and the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office under one roof to reduce the hospital expenses of poor and indigent patients by covering services and other fees.
“Kung mayroon kayong pasyente na nangangailangan ng tulong, mayroon na tayong 153 na Malasakit Center sa buong Pilipinas na handang tumulong sa inyo.”
“Kung mayroon kayong pasyente na nangangailangan ng tulong, mayroon na tayong 153 na Malasakit Center sa buong Pilipinas na handang tumulong sa inyo. Kung mayroon kayong pasyente na kailangan ng tulong, operasyon sa puso ‘wag n’yo ng patagalin. Ipa-check na kaagad,” Go offered.
To help improve the delivery of public service in the province, Go, as Vice Chair of the Senate Committee on Finance, likewise supported the improvement of roads in Badiangan, Banate, Dumangas, Lemery, Miag-ao and Sara; construction of a health station in Barangay Bucari in Leon; acquisition of trucks for Barotac Viejo and Zarraga; construction of the legislative building with complete facilities in the municipal hall of San Dionisio; and acquisition of ambulance units in Leon and Oton.
