THE Department of Health turned over two “Super Health Centers” to the City Government of Davao through the City Health Office in a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Tuesday.
The centers are located in Barangay Los Amigos and Toril.
Super Health Centers are a medium-type polyclinic that offer a wide array of healthcare services aimed at localizing medical services to decongest public hospitals.
Senate Committee on Health chair Senator Christopher “Bong” Go, who led Tuesday’s turn-over and ribbon-cutting ceremonies for both facilities, said the project will ensure Dabawenyos will have easier access to affordable quality health care.
Go said residents from Los Amigos and Toril that require outpatient medical services will no longer have to travel significant distances to receive medical care. Birthing mothers can also choose to deliver in the Super Health Centers instead of in the hospital.
The Super Health Center, the senator added, as a program in pursuant of the Universal Healthcare Act, will carry the PhilHealth ‘Konsulta Package’ for general medical consultations and other basic healthcare services.
“Birthing, dental, laboratory, x-ray are available there, and what is really good about this is that consultations care of PhilHealth is also available there,” Go said during the Serbisyo Ligal program of the Davao City Disaster Radio on Tuesday.
Go said 11 Super Health Centers will be established in Davao City, particularly in far-flung areas such as such as in Paquibato, Calinan, Indangan and other strategic locations.
Shortly after the opening of the Los Amigos and Toril A Super Health Centers, the DOH and the CHO broke ground in Barangay Dumoy to mark the beginning of the construction of another Super Health Center there.
CHO Head Dr. Tomas Miguel Ababon said the Super Health Centers will effectively maximize the CHO’s capabilities in delivering medical services to the public with the additional equipment and amenities in the facility.
“What I see as the biggest help of the Super Health Center is the equipment provided by the DOH. Because our health centers are only for CBC, Urinalysis. Now, the DOH has equipped us. They have given us a blood chem analysis and then we have a chest x-ray machine,” said Ababon.
Organizational charts of CHO personnel that will man the facilities and operate their equipment have been designed for both SHC’s, Ababon added.
“The doctors are already there, if needed. There are now doctors, nurses, midwives, medical technologists, radio technologists, radiologists, and cardiologists who will read our ECG, read our ultrasound, read our x-ray results. So it’s all set,” he added.
Although all elements are now set for the two SHCs, Ababon said only some of the medical services will be made available in the next few days as the CHO is still awaiting necessary paperwork from the Sangguniang Panlungsod and the city hall to fully operate the health centers. CIO
