The SM Foundation Inc. turned over Thursday to local officials the newly renovated Rural Health Unit III in Barangay Bagong Nayon in Cogeo, Antipolo, which would serve residents of at least five barangays around the area, including the residents of a slum area at the fringes of a predominantly middle- class community.
Gracing the turnover were key officials of the local government headed by Mayor Casimiro Ynares III, newly reelected Barangay Capt. Larry Onza with his councilors, and the City Health Office led by Dr. Concepcion Garcia Lat.
SMFI, led by the executive director for health and wellness Connie Angeles and officers of the different retail outlets of the SM Group, were given plaques of appreciation for the noble undertaking, which Ynares said further enhances the image of Antipolo, which is among the top-ranked component cities in the country.
What used to be a 350-square-meter facility with basic diagnostic, maternal (pre and post-natal care check-ups) and immunization services for a barangay health station was transformed into a two-storey, 990 sqm, spacious and well-equipped rural health unit that would serve not just Barangay Bagong Nayon but also other barangays within the city.
The RHU, which is now seeking accreditation with the Department of Health and the Philhealth as well as with the Lung Center of the Philippines for its TB-DOTS operations, is preparing to diversify and expand its health services, manpower and equipment to better cope with the needs of the people, said Dr. Lat.
The health unit can now provide all its previous services plus dental checks and tooth extraction, family planning, drug testing and treatment, pharmacy for hypertension, diabetes, tuberculosis and even infectious diseases, maternity care benefit packages and primary care.
It can also offer specialized services and programs that a premier health center provides, such as a Barangay Nutrition Scholar section program for teens and adolescents, smoking cessation clinic, diabetes and hypertensive clinic, among others.
The facility also has Felicidad T. Sy wellness centers for children (at the second floor) and the elderly (at the ground floor). It also now has a labor room and breastfeeding station with a refrigerator to store the breast milk of mothers and health staff.
The Foundation also sports waiting lounges, fans, toys and books for children at the children’s wellness center, a television that would feature programs on diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, how to quit smoking and family planning, separate toilets for men and women, and a full cabinet for the records of the RHU.
The center now also has labor, delivery room and recovery rooms that would run 24/7, a midwives’ room for trained midwives and trained obstetricians, and a pediatric consultation room. The nurses and midwives have direct access to the pharmacy for medicines that would be needed by women in labor.
Ynares asked the city health staff to provide their patients with the best care because the success of its hospitals and health facilities lies in their hands.
“It’s easy to build new hospitals and get new equipment but, in the end, it is in the amount of dedicated service that you will give to the patients that would bring success to the health facilities,” the mayor said.
Ynares himself came from the medical field and is aware that doctors and nurses work so hard often without eating, sleeping or even adequate rest.
“However, it was you who chose to be in that practice and in government service so don’t complain or ignore the needs and sufferings of your patients,” Ynares said.
Angeles said SMFI will take care of the maintenance of the facility to ensure that it would continue operating in good condition.