IN A bid to strengthen the health sector of the City of Davao for its constituents, the City Government, under the leadership of outgoing Mayor and Vice President-elect Sara Duterte-Carpio, prioritized a number of health investments during her back-to-back term for the last six years.
Some of the significant health projects were pursued during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, namely the Covid-19 Cluster Clinics, Mental Wellness Center, Davao City Special Needs Intervention Center for Children, and the Davao City Public Hospital.
Covid-19 Cluster Clinics
As part of the Covid-19 response of Davao City, the local government unit (LGU) partnered with the Reach Health-US Agency for International Development (USAid) in building the Covid-19 Cluster Clinics (CCC).
It aims to provide 24/7 service to coronavirus-related needs of Dabawenyos. The first CCC was in Dona Vicenta Village but was eventually transferred to the Sta. Ana Health Center. The city government is planning to continue to expand the clinics.
As of current, the CCC in Calinan is 95 percent complete and another one in Tibungco is underway.
Mental Wellness Center
The Mental Wellness Center for Homeless was also materialized during the height of the pandemic to address the problem involving mentally-challenged street dwellers who could be exposed to Covid-19.
The center, which cost P26 million, is located at the Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC) - Institute of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine compound and was inaugurated on January 21, 2022.
The facility houses rescued street swellers where they are given food, clothing, shelter, and medical attention suited for their needs. In the facility, patients can also engage in different activities like music, arts, games, and sports to develop their skills.
Aside from that, the Mental Wellness Center also serves as an outpatient counseling service center for Dabawenyos who are in need of psychiatric care.
During the inauguration of the center, the VP-elect expressed hope that the center will help raise awareness and address the stigma on mental health.
“The establishment of the Davao City Mental Health Center for the homeless is a welcome initiative of the local government not only to provide a comfortable refuge for our homeless and mentally-ill residents but also to address the stigma surrounding mental health and raise awareness in the community,” Duterte-Carpio said.
Davao City Special Needs Intervention Center for Children
On the other hand, the long-awaited Davao City Special Needs Intervention Center for Children and the Davao City Public Hospital are finally given the green light this year after facing setbacks because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
During her State of the City Address on March 17, 2022, Duterte-Carpio said the Special Needs Intervention Center has begun construction with a budget of P70 million.
The one-of-a-kind center will provide free early intervention, special education, and occupational, speech, and physical therapy programs to children and youth with special needs.
“With more and more children diagnosed with special needs and given the prohibitive cost of therapies and intervention programs, we pursued the creation of the Davao City Special Needs Intervention Center for Children,” Duterte-Caprio said.
Expected to be completed next year, the center will house special facilities including a physical therapy room, swimming pool for aqua therapy, occupational therapy sensory gym, and speech therapy room.
Davao City Public Hospital
In order to fast-track the Davao City Public Hospital, the mayor issued Executive Order No. 41 series of 2021 creating an executive committee (Execom) and technical working group (TWG) to oversee the project.
Currently, the LGU has allocated a P250,000,000 budget to start the land development of the city hospital, to be built at the University of the Philippines-Mindanao grounds in Barangay Mintal.
It will be a Level III Training and Covid-19 response hospital that will provide services for all kinds of illnesses, diseases, injuries, and deformities.
Other health initiatives
Another hospital was also opened during Duterte-Carpio’s term The Marilog District Hospital received its license to operate from the Department of Health in February 2021 and has a 0-bed capacity, 14 medical services, and 73 medical and non-medical staff.
These are just some of the big-ticket projects Duterte-Carpio invested in the health sector of Davao City in order to provide better services and treatment for Dabawenyos of all ages.
But the outgoing mayor has also built other key health facilities, including building 84 health centers and essential Covid-19-related projects that complement the city’s overall effective response to the pandemic.
These are the Department of Health (DOH)-licensed Los Amigos Davao Laboratory to process RT-PCR swab tests and the P12 million Davao City Crematorium for proper handling of the remains of Covid-19 victims.
The mayor also created the Davao City Covid-19 Task Force headed by the mayor herself which oversees the Covid-19 response of the city from enforcing safety and security measures to facilitating the vaccination rollout.
Around the start of her second term as mayor in 2017, Duterte-Carpio expanded the existing Lingap Para sa Mahirap program to a one-stop-shop medical assistance called Pagkalinga sa Bayan.
The Lingap Para sa Mahirap of the Davao LGU is financial assistance for hospital bills and medical services, while the Pagkalinga sa Bayan combines assistance from the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO), Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), PhilHealth, Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor), and the Lingap program.
“We initiated this because the patients and their families have to go to different offices to ask for financial assistance,” the mayor said during the inauguration of the Pagkalinga sa Bayan in SPMC in 2017.
According to the mayor, because of the ingenuity of the Pagkalinga sa Bayan of Davao LGU, the program was replicated nationwide as Malasakit Centers.
In 2021, four satellite Lingap offices were opened in Marilog District Hospital, Bunawan District Hall, Toril Gym, and Paquibato Proper Barangay Hall. By November of the same year, the Lingap online and contactless platform for requests and applications was launched via Facebook.
Some of the assistance and medical services that can be acquired through the Lingap program include hospital, funeral, and burial assistance, medical and laboratory procedures, maintenance medication, prosthetics sensory and visual aids, reconstructive surgery for orofacial cleft, and other special cases.
Check-up assistance for inpatient, outpatient, and emergency patients is also included.
These projects and programs were achieved by the LGU despite the threats of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Over the last six years, the city government has implemented several investments and initiatives to improve the health sector in the city. This allowed Dabawenyos to have better access to quality health services.