THE Cebu City and the Cebu Province were allocated 10 hemodialysis units each for their renal patients.
This, after the Department of Health (DOH) through the Health Facilities Enhancement Program (HEFP) Management Office approved the separate requests of the city government and the provincial government for the provision of the DOH-HFEP Hemodialysis Package.
The City and the Province sent a letter to the DOH on July 8 and July 17, 2020 respectively, asking the DOH for their inclusion in the DOH-HFEP Hemodialysis Package so that renal patients can avail themselves of safe and efficient dialysis services amid the ongoing fight against Covid-19.
Five of the 10 hemodialysis units allocated for the City will be placed at the Cebu City Quarantine Center for Covid-19 patients while the other five will be placed at the SM Seaside City Cebu for non-
Covid-19 patients.
The 10 hemodialysis units allocated for the Province will be placed at the SM Seaside City Cebu for non-Covid-19 patients.
The virtual signing of the memorandum of agreement (MOA) between the concerned parties was held on Thursday, Aug. 13.
Present were Cebu City Mayor Edgardo Labella, Cebu Provincial Governor Gwendolyn Garcia, SM Prime Holdings Inc. vice president and special assistant to the chairman of the executive committee Maria Eloisa Fernan, DOH 7 director Jaime Bernadas and Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC) chief Gerardo Aquino Jr.
Michael Dino, secretary of the Office of the Presidential Assistant for the Visayas, Jose Ma. Concepcion III, presidential adviser for entrepreneurship, Iloilo Congresswoman Janette Garin and Felix Taguiam, president of the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry, served as witnesses of the MOA signing.
Under the signed MOA, which is effective until Dec. 31, SM Seaside City Cebu will provide a space within its premises for the installation of the hemodialysis units.
The VSMMC will operate a satellite hemodialysis center inside SM Seaside City Cebu using the designated area. It will also shoulder the cost of the operations including the utility dues, electricity and water, owing to its use.
It will deploy and assign health care personnel as part of the manpower complement.
The City Government and the Provincial Government will maintain the ownership and accountability of the units.
They will shoulder the costs of corrective or preventive maintenance of the hemodialysis units in case of breakdown and similar instances preventing their continued use. / WBS