ZAMBOANGA CITY — The year 2018 saw the opening of two vital health facilities here that would hasten the delivery of medical services to poor patients, as well as those from the neighboring areas in the region.
The first facility that was opened on September 1 was the PHP90-million Emergency and Critical Care Center (ECCC) at the government-owned Zamboanga City Medical Center (ZCMC).
The second was the Malasakit Center, which was opened on October 13 by then Special Assistant to the President Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go.
Dr. Ahmed Khaayser Igasan, Emergency Room head, said the establishment of the ECCC, which will cater to trauma patients, is part of the efforts of ZCMC to modernize its facilities and improve the services to the public.
Igasan said the ECCC is a 36-bed capacity and it has its own emergency, operating and observation rooms, computed tomography (CT) scan, ultrasound, laboratory, and x-ray.
Igasan said the ECCC is also comprised of four departments, namely, Pediatrics, Internal Medicine, Surgery, and Obstetric and Gynecology.
He said the ECCC also serves patients from the entire Zamboanga Peninsula to include those from Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi provinces, which are part of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).
The Malasakit center is a one-stop-shop of government agencies that provides assistance to poor patients such as the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO), the Department of Health (DOH), the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), and the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth).
The center, which is located inside the ZCMC, has an express lane for senior citizens and Persons with Disability (PWDs).
Go said the only requirement to avail of the services of the Malasakit Center is that “you must be a Filipino citizen.”
“The Malasakit Center is a one-stop shop for our countrymen who need medical assistance from the government. Its aim is to hasten and bring closer to the people the help of the concerned government agencies,” he said.
Go has turned over PHP5 million to the ZCMC as counterpart from Malacañang and as initial fund to operationalize the Malasakit Center here.
“The services in the Malasakit Center are for free and non-partisan. There is no politics, anyone who is sick can avail of the assistance at the center,” he emphasized. (With reports from R.G. Antonet A. Go/PNA)
