Angeles folk continue to avail Medikalinga’s free surgeries

ANGELES CITY – Hundreds of Angeleños continue to flock Barangay Sto. Domingo every Friday to undergo minor surgeries at the Agyu Tamu Medikalinga Center here, which successfully reached its 8th service day recently.

The latest operation provided free minor medical surgeries to 175 patients and referred 44 to undergo major surgery at the Rafael Lazatin Memorial Medical Center (RLMMC).

This statistic brings the number of beneficiaries to about 700 patients, who were all thankful to the doctors who administered and performed surgeries at no cost.

According to Mayor Edgardo Pamintuan, the establishment of the Medikalinga center is one of the living testaments of his contract with the Angeleños -- an eight-point agenda made during his campaign for mayor in the 2010 elections.

“Part of our contract is the continuous medical services for our constituents. We started with the regular Barangay days, which are now held twice a week. Then we have the improvement of our public general hospital, the RLMMC, which now boasts a renal care unit with 19 dialysis machines, saving the lives of Angeleños from their kidney ailments by offering its services at a very low price – around 900 pesos to the indigent members of the community. It continues with the Medikalinga center which has now served hundreds, proving that the need for this kind of service is now fulfilled,” Pamintuan said.

Medikalinga doctors provide free surgical services for the removal of sebaceous cysts, lymphoma cysts, tendon cysts, abscesses, warts, and even small breast masses, among others.

Apart from the fact that its services are free, the Medikalinga staff also conducts house-to-house surveys in search for potential patients who would enjoy the benefits of the free operations. The service also extends to holding free cataract removal operations.

Village officials and health workers have also been very cooperative with this medical endeavor as they provide free shuttle services to its patients going to and from the Medikalinga center.

Pacencia Sarmiento, a 90-year-old patient from Barangay Cut-cut, had her 5-year old nose wart removed during the latest operation.

Sarmiento said she was very thankful that there is something like the Medikalinga to provide services to her and to the many Angeleños in need of minor surgeries.

“Malaki pong tulong itong Medikalinga sa aming mga matatanda at hindi ganun kayaman sapagkat ito ay nagbibigay ng libreng serbisyo sa amin. Maraming salamat sa Mayor sa pagtayo ng ganitong klasing serbisyo,” Sarmiento expressed.

The Agyu Tamu Medikalinga center is located at the former Boy Scout Angeles City Council near Camp Tomas Pepito and the Barangay Hall of Barangay Sto. Domingo. To avail of its free services, Angeleños need only to approach their barangay health workers for profiling and proper screening procedures.