THE National Government gives people in Northern Luzon better access to quality health care with the opening of the new Cancer Institute of the Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center (BGHMC).
Health Secretary Paulyn Rosell-Ubial joined by Department of Health (DOH) Undersecretary Herminigildo Valle, DOH-Cordillera Regional Director Lakshmi Legaspi and BGHMC Center Director Dr. Ricardo Runez Jr. for the ribbon – cutting and soft launching of the Cancer Institute building on Holy Tuesday.
Runez, in welcoming the guests and participants, expressed BGHMC’s gratitude to the health department for the expansion and modernization program on the hospital's Cancer Detection and Treatment Department.
He outlined with their experiences from the many cancer patients they handle, this project is very timely and will help ensure accessible and equitable quality health care.
BGHMC not only caters to patients from Baguio City and Cordillera but also to nearby provinces of Regions 1 and 2 and serve around 1,500 cancer patients every year, Runez informed.
Ubial, in her message, called for a continuing partnership in moving the country’s health care program forward as envisioned in the DOH battle cry, “All for Health, Towards Health For All: Achieve”.
The Achieve part, as Ubial explained, is the acronym for the seven strategies for DOH towards the attainment of their goal, namely: Advancing primary health care and promotion; Cover all Filipinos against financial risk; Harness the power of our health resources; Invest in digital health; Enforce standard in accountability and transparency; Value patients and respect clients, and Elicit multi-stakeholder and multi – sectoral support for health.
She shared under the directive of President Rodrigo Duterte, DOH major focus are the war against illegal drugs, the war on corruption and the war against poverty and ill health.
Ubial reiterated her call to BGHMC, their partners and other stakeholders for a united front in moving forward under their battle cry of “All for Health, Towards Health For All.” (PIA-CAR)