ILAGAN CITY, Isabela—For over two years, Ilagan City government, headed by its mayor Josemarie Diaz, has urged the swift installation of Malasakit Center at City of Ilagan Medical Center (CIMC).

Based on the implementing rules and regulations of Republic Act No. 11463 or the Malasakit Centers Act of 2019, which institutionalized the Malasakit Centers program, it is established by the Department of Health and aims to ensure the provision of integrated people-centered health services and financial risk protection for indigent and financially incapacitated patients.

Representatives from the Department of Health, Department of Social Welfare and Development, Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office, and Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) are assigned to each center to process and approve requests for medical and financial assistance.

“Two years ago, Mayor Diaz lobbied for the establishment of Malasakit Center here in the City of Ilagan Medical Center. They went directly to Senator Bong Go. We are still waiting for our requests to be approved,” said Richard Cabrera, Hospital Administrator of the said CIMC.

He said that a staff of Senator Go, who is the main proponent of RA No. 11463 should go to the CIMC to check the hospital facilities and if it passed the qualification, the office of Senator Go will make an endorsement to the DOH.

To date, he said that no staff of Senator Go had checked their hospital.

“The Malasakit Center could have already lessened the burden of our indigent constituents. The help of the National government is way bigger and wider compared to the LGU. But for the meantime, the social services funds of the City Government of Ilagan City were released and downloaded to us to cover the hospital bills of our deprived patients, by requesting the mayor for financial assistance for their bill settlement and release,” he maintained.

Asked for comment, Senator Go, through his communications team, maintained that based on the law, opening and operations of Malasakit Centers depend upon the approval of DOH being the lead implementing agency.

“Senator Go is the principal author and sponsor of the law. But the implementation of the law is within the realm of the executive branch," Go’s office said.

Integral institution

CIMC, located at Barangay Lullutan, Ilagan City was said to have proven to be a valuable institution especially with the rising cases of Covid-19 in the city.

The 100-bed capacity hospital is a 2-level classification operated by the City Government of Ilagan.

Doctor’s fee at CIMC is being shouldered by the city government, and the ones that are being paid by patients are laboratory fees, medicines, among others.

Cabrera said that CIMC has been integral to the health of Ilagueños, as well neighboring towns and municipalities.

He said the hospital, which was launched in 2020, had faced a gigantic task during the Covid 19 pandemic, as even its aisles were filled with Covid patients.

“We even admitted 780 patients suspected with Covid in a day during that time. And this hospital has proven its worth, as the next hospital is one and a half hour away from Ilagan City, which is Cagayan Valley Medical Center to the North, and the hospital at the South, Southern Isabela Medical Center, is two hours away from here. To have a secondary hospital really is a big thing for us as we are the first line of defense,” he said.

The two hospitals have their Malasakit Centers.

He also thanked Mayor Diaz for prioritizing the health of his constituents, above all.

To date, the latest services being served by the CIMC is the reconstructive surgery, pulmonary, intensive care unit and a blood bank.

CIMC has 136 doctors, including neurologists, cardiologists, gastro, oncologists and infectious control specialists.

The hospital gained three ISO Certifications, the only hospital in region 2 that have gained the quality management, environmental and health hazard management certifications.