The local government of Manila inaugurated its first-ever Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory at the Ospital ng Maynila, a facility that will provide free, life-saving heart procedures to residents.

Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso led the inauguration Monday, calling it a milestone that will help improve public health care.

The laboratory, which was licensed by the Department of Health on 7 January, houses advanced imaging equipment used to diagnose and treat cardiovascular diseases without open-heart surgery.

The city plans to gradually roll out free angiograms and angioplasty procedures, which can cost more than P300,000 at private hospitals.

“Today is the start of a long journey, because we are going to deliver angiogram, and hopefully later on, we will have angioplasty,” Domagoso said.

Domagoso lamented that the lab had remained idle since being built during his previous term. He also defended the city’s health workers, saying it was unfair to blame them for system failures of the previous administration.

The laboratory is part of a larger project to convert the old hospital into the new Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila Academic Building for Health Sciences.

“From producing 300 to 500 graduates, we will now produce 5,000 medical professionals,” the mayor said. “That’s a contribution and participation to nation-building.”