86th Malasakit Center launched in Davao Oriental

MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Bong Go led the opening of the country’s 86th Malasakit Center at the Davao Oriental Provincial Medical Center in Mati City, Davao Oriental on Friday.

The newly opened Malasakit Center is the first in the province, fourth in Davao Region and 21st in Mindanao.

Go’s team provided meals and distributed bicycles to a few medical health workers of the hospital.

The Malasakit Center in hospitals aim to give Filipinos access to medical and financial assistance provided by the government.

Instead of seeking help from one government agency to another, patients or their representatives will only need to go to the Malasakit Center and fill out a unified form to request assistance.

An express lane for persons with disability and senior citizens is available in every center.

Among the agencies housed at the Malasakit Center are the Department of Social Welfare and Development, Department of Health, Philippine Health Insurance Corp. and Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office.

Republic Act 11463, or the Malasakit Centers Act of 2019, mandates all government-run hospitals and the Philippine General Hospital in Manila to set up their own Malasakit Centers.

Meanwhile, Go said he is seeking to hasten the upgrading of public hospitals as well as augmenting their bed capacities.

The senator filed Senate Bill 1226, or the proposed DOH Hospital Bed Capacity and Service Capability Rationalization Act, seeking to authorize the DOH to increase the bed capacity and service capability of its retained hospitals and allow it to promulgate, evaluate and approved guidelines.

The Senate committee on health and demography, which Go chairs, continues to work on improving the country’s healthcare facilities in terms of hospital bed capacity and service capabilities, especially during the pandemic.