BACOLOD CITY – A Malasakit Center will soon open at the Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital (CLMMRH) in this city to provide a one-stop-shop on health services for indigent patients.
This was announced by Presidential Assistant for the Visayas Michael Lloyd Dino in a speech, during the commemoration of the 80th year of the signing of the Charter of the City of Bacolod at the L’ Fisher Hotel here on Monday.
Dino, who represented Special Assistant to the President Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go as guest of honor and speaker, said the Malasakit Center is a perfect example of the national government’s manifestation of compassion and dedication to service in the grassroots level.
The facility in Bacolod, whose opening has yet to be scheduled, will be the second in Region 6 after the one in Western Visayas Medical Center in Iloilo City which will be unveiled this month.
The CLMMRH is the lone Department of Health hospital in Negros Island.
The pilot Malasakit Center is located at Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center in Cebu City for Region 7 while the second is now open at the Eastern Visayas Regional Medical Center in Tacloban City for Region 8.
Dino said figures show that the Cebu facility, which started operating in February this year, has already assisted 16,304 patients who received a total assistance of PHP62.6 million, while in Eastern Visayas, the Malasakit Center has served around 200 beneficiaries at an amount of almost PHP1 million since May.
A Malasakit Center, a one-stop-shop managed by representatives of the Department of Health, Department of Social Welfare and Development, Philippine Health Insurance Corp. and the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Offices, assists patients in availing of faster and effective processing of their financial/medical needs.
The facility simplifies the process of obtaining assistance from government agencies, especially financial assistance for poor patients confined in government hospitals, without the need to go to different agencies for processing of documents. (Nanette Guadalquiver/PNA)
