ORMOC CITY , Philippines – The city will venture into a state-of-the-art diagnostic laboratory services that would serve the local and neighboring town residents, according to Mayor Eric Codilla.
An initial P50 million fund for the construction of a three or four storey building that would accommodate the equipment of the proposed laboratory services will be allocated and construction will start next year. He said this advance diagnostic laboratory center will be the first in the region that would serve patients not only from the city but to all residents in the neighboring towns and provinces.
Codilla said that the need of the city to venture into facilities like these is timely since the nearest diagnostic center is in Cebu. He added, though, there are diagnostic centers with modern equipment in Tacloban and Maasin and a private hospital here but the prices of their services are prohibitive that poor residents cannot afford.
The mayor said the city’s diagnostic center is not built to compete with private hospitals and other diagnostic centers in the area but to serve the poor who cannot afford to go to Cebu City, Tacloban City and Maasin City for diagnostic needs. – Roberto Dejon