Mandaue chosen as DOH health care site

CEBU, Philippines —  The Department of Health (DOH)-7, in partnership with the Philippine Health Insurance and the City Health Office of Mandaue City, yesterday staged the ceremonial launching making the city a Universal Health Care (UHC) Integration Site.

The DOH wants to ensure that the implementation of the various health programs and services of the government are inclusive, so it has committed to support the province and other local government units (LGU) in implementing UHC in their respective localities.

Yesterday’s activity aims to highlight the support and commitment of the city and the relevant stakeholders in the achievement of the vision of UHC and to ensure that the programs and activities are aligned with the UHC provisions.

DOH-7 Regional Director Jaime Bernadas said that Mandaue City is the first LGU in Cebu to become a UHC integrated site, which Mayor Jonas Cortes is thankful about.

In his speech, Bernadas said the vision of DOH is for the Filipinos to be among the healthiest people in Southeast Asia by 2022 and in Asia by 2040.

“The Department of Health has expressed the full support towards implementation of UHC in the different cities, provinces and local government units. Of course, The Center for Health Development – Central Visayas will be working hand-in-hand with the City Health Office in implementing reforms in the Mandaue City Health Care System,” he said.

He added that one of the very vital features of this reform is the enlistment of every citizen to a primary care provider (PCP).

“This will ensure that all families are matched to a PCP that can provide the appropriate level of care in the appropriate facility through Health Care Provider Network,” he said.

To realize these requirements, he said the healthcare workers moved out of their stations and conducted the family profiling through the regional initiated system called Check-up Profiling System.

“We are encouraging all the residents in Mandaue City to make sure they are profiled and matched to a healthcare provider as we anticipate movements due to possible change of residence,” he said.

“With all these efforts, I am confident that we are on the right track as we take a great leap in and embrace changes towards achieving Universal Health Care,” he added.

He thanked the mayor for the latter’s zeal and interest towards this reform and he look forward to the localization of this endeavor in the city.

“This will be a challenging leap, but I am looking forward to a milieu of gains ahead of us.  The birth of a reform will be grim and testing, but we will definitely sow the seeds of all our diligence in the future.  We are all in this together,” Bernadas further said.

DOH Undersecretary Camilo Pancratius Cascolan graced the event as well as the city’s barangay health workers. — GAN (FREEMAN)