DAGUPAN CITY (PIA) – The Department of Health (DOH) – Ilocos on Friday turned-over one mobile clinic to Dagupan City as part of the implementation of the Universal Health Care (UHC) for the improvement and strengthening of health services and provide residents access to quality health care.
DOH Ilocos regional director Paula Paz Sydiongco said, “This mobile clinic will be used for triage, consultation and medical examination of patients especially among vulnerable populations including those with chronic illness and residing in rural communities without access to healthcare facilities.”
“Sa pamamagitan nito ay maabot natin ang mga kababayan nating nakatira sa malalayong barangay at sila ay mabibigyan ng mga libreng serbisyong pangkalusugan gaya ng x-ray at basic laboratory examinations,” Sydiongco added.
The mobile clinic is equipped with an x-ray room with one unit portable digital x-ray (100ma) machine, two units mobile negatoscope, one unit clinical centrifuge, one unit hemoglobinometer, medicine cabinet, two emergency lights, and two fire extinguishers.
The unit was procured under the General Appropriations Act of 2021 for health service capability of UHC sites.
Dagupan City Mayor Belen Fernandez received the mobile clinic donation and expressed her gratitude for the DOH’s continued support for the city’s health care system.
The City Health Office (CHO) will utilize the mobile clinic, along with the city’s dental health bus, for the conduct of medical-dental health caravans, according to Mayor Fernandez.
The city is among the 33 cities and provinces in the country who have signed the memorandum of support for the advanced implementation of UHC.
Once implemented, every Filipino will be provided with the best quality care that is possible without financial difficulty.
Meanwhile, the CHO of Dagupan is also the region’s first accredited PhilHealth KonSulTa provider.
PhilHealth Regional Vice President Dennis Adre said the KonSulTa is an expanded program aimed to provide coverage for the primary care services for all Filipinos, in partnership with accredited health care providers.
As a KonSulTa provider, it shall serve as an initial point of contact for the members and their legal dependents, as well as provide referral to a health care facility for patients, depending on their health needs.
Benefits and services provided by the PhilHealth KonSulTa program for members and their legal dependents are: health screening and assessment; consultations with primary care physicians; diagnostic examinations/laboratory tests; drugs and medicines for selected illnesses like asthma, hypertension and diabetes.
Everybody is encouraged to register with the KonSulTa program, said Adre. (JCR/AMB/PIA Pangasinan)
