President Rodrigo Roa Duterte led the inauguration and turnover ceremony of the North Mindanao Wellness and Reintegration Center in Barangay Casisang, Malaybalay City, Bukidnon.
DoH Secretary Francisco Duque III received from private donors and the City of Malaybalay the ceremonial key to the center.
“The NMWRC is very different from the obsolete rehab centers as we have known before that looked more like jails rather than a place to be cured and be healthy,” said Senator Migz Zubiri.
“Here, there are no bars and no detention walls. What we have are modern wide rooms and halls, fresh air and gardens, and modern gym, sports facilities and equipment for getting healthy and fit. They are not here to be punished, they are here to be cared for. “
Touted to be the first of its kind in the country, the NMWRC has the capacity to deliver international standards of treatment and management of drug dependents.
The center will provide holistic approach in treating drug-dependent patients. This modern institution promises to give each patient the proper medical, therapeutic and social interventions.
It has training facilities to provide skills training and technical-vocational education to the patients that will help them reintegrate to the society and find better opportunities once they stepped out of the center. The NMWRC can accommodate around 600 patients on a 6-month treatment cycle.
Likewise, it is capable of identifying and addressing other health issues that arise from illegal drug use such as HIV and AIDS. Its mission is flexible enough to accommodate the needs of different population groups such as young people, indigenous peoples, women, women with children, rural folk, workers and the LGBT community.
“No one will be turned away because of its subsidized treatment plans. The rich and poor will be treated in the same manner,” said Zubiri.
“It is our great hope that sick, unproductive and depressed individuals coming in here will go out fit, productive and well-adjusted persons. To thousands of Filipinos, this modern medical center represents freedom from drug-dependence and opportunity to reintegrate with society,” he further said.
On top of these modern features of the NMWRC, the construction of this P700 million center is privately-funded by the non-government organization Friends of the Philippines Foundation/UAA Kinming Group Development Corporation and the 5 – hectare land where the center sits is donated by the City of Malaybalay.
