The provincial government distributed an ambulance each to five government hospitals in Kalinga.
Governor Ferdinand Tubban said that the distribution “is one of the steps in modernizing health facilities in the province, giving comfort and a reliable ambulance or transport system for each hospital”.
Representatives of Kalinga District Hospital, Pinukpuk District Hospital, Western Kalinga District Hospital, Kalinga Provincial Hospital, and the Provincial Health Office received the units.
Another ambulance, funded from last year’s budget, is being used by Juan M. Duyan District Hospital.
“The ambulance will serve as interconnection transport of hospitals.”
“The ambulances will serve as interconnection transport of hospitals,” Tubban said.
He said the chiefs of the hospitals requested for the ambulances last year during a meeting with the Provincial Inter-Agency Task Force (PIATF) after witnessing the difficulty of transporting patients, especially those from remote villages.
Through a PIATF resolution, the local finance committee requested P1.5 million for the purchase of each ambulance.
The fund was obtained from the Disaster Risk Reduction Management trust fund of 2019 and from the supplemental budget set for COVID-19 response.
Tubban said the program will continue until all the needed materials and equipment for all government health facilities in Kalinga are fully completed.
“This is the fruit of the effort of the chiefs of the hospitals and the result of regular attendance to the PIATF meetings and continued coordination with the provincial government. I believe that if we are persistent and we assert the need to provide the requirements of our sector, we will be able to get something that will benefit our people,” he added.
During the turnover, Tubban also lauded the employees for their dedication and service to their province mates.
“Let us not get tired serving our people in Kalinga.”
“Let us not get tired of serving our people in Kalinga, let us continue serving until we satisfy the needs of each of our people,” he said.
It can be recalled that last year, public and private hospitals in Kalinga joined hands to assist kidney patients to undergo treatment in Tuguegarao City and the provinces of Cagayan and Isabela despite quarantine restrictions affecting the transfer of patients then.