MANILA City Mayor Isko Moreno Domagoso led a groundbreaking ceremony for the renovation of the Jose Vicencio Health Center in Santa Ana on Tuesday.
The renovation will cover 17 areas of the health center, including consultation and examination rooms, a dental room, a pharmacy, a minor surgery room, a TB-DOTS room, a sputum collection area, a microscopy room, a nurses’ room, a midwives’ room, a conference room, and a waste storage facility, among others.
Moreno cited the Minimum Basic Needs (MBN) framework as the driving force behind the city’s investment in public health infrastructure and committed to the upgrading of health centers across Manila.
“I will use all the time and resources I have to change, repair and modernize every health center, for as long as I have the time and ability, to make them more effective workplaces and more comfortable for residents who visit each health center,” Isko said.
He reminded residents of the free angiogram and angioplasty services available at the Catheterization Laboratory of Ospital ng Maynila, a facility he established during his first term.
Since its reopening, the facility has served 169 angiogram patients and performed seven angioplasty procedures.
In the private sector, the procedures would cost between P300,000 and P1.5 million, according to the city government.
“If you live in Manila and get treated at the Ospital ng Maynila, how much will you pay? Zero. I do not mind spending millions on one person, as long as you live,” the mayor said.
Under MBN, the city government has invested P324,049,337 in a medical equipment procurement program for its seven district hospitals and the Manila Health Department.
Construction, reconstruction and improvement works are also ongoing at 10 other health centers across Manila, including the Tondo Foreshore Super Health Center.
Moreno urged the city’s health workers to meet residents with compassion, saying a smile alone can already begin to heal.
“Your city government will continue to invest in MBN: housing, education, health care and jobs,” Moreno added.
