Bacolod hospital readies for 'Malasakit' Center opening

• Source: http://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1041603
• Tuesday, July 17, 2018 (PNA)

By Nanette Guadalquiver

BACOLOD CITY – The Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital (CLMMRH) has started preparations for the target opening of the "Malasakit" Center in the last quarter of the year.

In an interview after Monday's inauguration of the CLMMRH magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) complex and mental health unit, hospital chief Dr. Julius Drilon said that part of the efforts is the renovation of the hospital’s Social Services Unit that will house the facility, which is expected to be completed in three months.

“Maybe I could say, in three months, it will be okay,” he said. “We’re preparing for it. We’re very glad it will house the integrated services unit in a one-stop shop.”

Presidential Assistant for the Visayas Michael Lloyd Dino, who visited Bacolod last June 18, said a "Malasakit" Center will soon open at the CLMMRH, which is the only Department of Health (DOH)-run hospital on Negros Island.

The Bacolod facility will be the second in Region 6 after the one at the Western Visayas Medical Center in Iloilo City was unveiled on July 20.

A "Malasakit" Center, a one-stop shop managed by representatives of the DOH, 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.

In the Visayas, the pilot "Malasakit" Center is located at Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center in Cebu City for Region 7 while the Eastern Visayas Regional Medical Center in Tacloban City hosts the facility for Region 8.