MORE professionals will be needed in mental health centers once the proposed mental health ordinance will be passed in Davao City.

The measure was approved on second reading Tuesday, February 26.

Committee on health chair Councilor Mary Joselle Villafuerte said during the Pulong-pulong ni Pulong (PPP) media forum Tuesday that the city will need to hire psychiatrists, psychologists, nurses, and social workers in each districts soon.

“We are very fortunate that during the last committee hearing, present si Attorney Raul Nadela. (He) assured us that Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio will hire more personnel for this,” Villafuerte said.

“Ideally, sana ang head ng mental health division is a psychiatrist. Sana nga maka-hire tayo. And for each district, may psychologist who is trained in counseling and treatment,” she added.

Villafuerte said they will construct a mental health facility inside the Institute of Psychiatric Behavioral Medicine (IPBM) to cater to individuals with mental health problems roaming the city.

“(The goal of this ordinance) is to make health care community-based. And to build a structure within the complex of IPBM otherwise known as the mental hospital,” Villafuerte said, adding that the last goal is to create a mental health division in the city.

A P5 million construction fund will be coming from the Office of the City Mayor as Mayor Duterte-Carpio verbally assured her of the budget of the mental health facility inside IPBM.

“Hiningi ko talaga na mabigyan ng budget. (Yung) may secretary, may office, office supplies. A real office, a division, (operating) full-time for the mental health concerns of our city,” she said.

“The statistics are a bit dire. One out of three people who walked into a district health centers are suffering from some form of mental disorder. It could be anxiety,” Villafuerte said, adding that this ordinance is an urgent matter that the local government should give attention to.