LA TRINIDAD, Benguet—Benguet will get 10 dialysis machines from the Department of Health to serve the increasing numbers of dialysis patients not only from the province but also from other neighboring provinces.
Gov. Crescencio C. Pacalso said that aside from the five existing dialysis machines given earlier to the Benguet General Hospital, five more machines “will arrive the soonest,” increasing the hospital’s capacity to treat patients.
The dialysis machines at the government-run BeGH are in addition to the existing 10 machines being handled by a private company, which are not sufficient to cater to the growing number of patients with renal problems.
Pacalso said five dialysis machines from the DoH will be installed at the Atok District Hospital, while the others will be given to the Dennis Molintas Memorial Hospital. This would make the machines easily accessible to patients from the rural areas, he said.
“We are alarmed at the rapid increase in patients who are being diagnosed with renal failure and are recommended to undergo the sensitive and painful dialysis treatment,” Pacalso said.
“We are also studying how we could bring the health facilities in the countryside so that people undergoing the treatment will no longer need to travel to the capital town or Baguio City just to have their treatment,” he added.
The provincial government will also to look into other funds to purchase addition units of the expensive dialysis machines for other health facilities around the province to augment whatever the Health department could provide.
Pacalso said the increasing number of individuals undergoing dialysis treatment in the different hospitals in Baguio and Benguet should serve as a warning for local residents to review their diet and avoid suffering the same fate as their relatives.
Those undergoing the treatment “affect the emotional, social and financial condition of their families,” the governor said.
While he supports the initiative of the Baguio Correspondents and Broadcasters Club calling on the national government to implement a free dialysis program, he said the decision still lies with the concerned government agency.
“The question is whether or not the Health department and other health insurance groups are capable of providing the free treatment to the patients,” he said.
Currently, the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. shoulders the dialysis treatment of renal patients for up to a maximum of 90 sessions annually.
But patients are seeking the implementation of the free dialysis program to lessen the financial burden of their families, who have to shoulder twice or thrice-a-week dialysis treatment in various hospitals in Baguio and Benguet.
