Malasakit Center big help for San Juan–Zamora

San Juan City Mayor Francis Zamora says the Malakasit Center is also part of the realization of his promise to give constituents better medical services at the city hospital. (Analy Labor)

San Juan City Mayor Francis Zamora on Thursday expressed gratitude to the launching of the Malasakit Center at the San Juan Medical Center (SJMC) and Sen. Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go who made it possible.

“Malaking tulong po ito sating mga mamamayan sapagkat alam naman natin na isa sa mga mahirap nilang tugunan ay yung pangangailangang medikal,” Zamora said.

The mayor said the center is also part of the realization of his promise to give constituents better medical services at the city hospital.

San Juan residents who are patients in the SJMC may avail of the financial and medical assistance offered by the Malasakit Center.

Every month, the center will allocate P5 million to the office of the mayor for disbursement. Each patient of the SJMC may be entitled to financial and medical aid of up to P50,000 from the center on top of the financial assistance from PhilHealth and the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office based on the assessment of government social workers.

The aim of the Malasakit Center is to minimize if not to altogether eliminate the cost of hospitalization in the SJMC.

Malasakit Centers serve as a one-stop shop for indigent patients seeking government assistance. Each center houses representatives from various government agencies such as the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office and the Philippine Health Insurance Corp.

The Malasakit Center in the city is the 56th in the country and one of the first few and one of the biggest in Metro Manila.

The center in San Juan City was prioritized due to the initiatives of Zamora.

The Malasakit Center was initiated in Cebu City on February 2018 by Go when he was the Special Assistant to the President together with Secretary Michael Lloyd Dino, Presidential Assistant for the Visayas.

Meanwhile, the SJMC is also undergoing modernization with the city governement focusing on procuring state of the art medical equipment and enhancing all facilities.