Valenzuela City Mayor Weslie Gatchalian announced in his first State of the Health Address that the local government has allocated funds to cover laboratory fees and maintenance medicines.
In his message, Gatchalian said the city reduced spending in other areas to allocate more funds for public healthcare needs.
Among the health services now available are ultrasound, treadmill testing, cryotherapy, laboratory services including blood chemistry and chemical microscopy, and lying-in services.
For 2025, the Valenzuela LGU allocated P127.5 million for regular and senior citizen medicines and reagents — higher than the P88.7 million budget for 2024.
The city government also increased the distribution of maintenance medicines from 10 to 15 pieces to a full month’s supply.
“Our residents are prioritized, and they will just need to present their valid identification cards and the doctor’s prescription and they will receive the medicines they need,” the mayor said.
Aside from medicines, Gatchalian showcased the three-storey Valenzuela Health Ambulatory and Surgical Center in Barangay Paso De Blas is almost halfway done.
The first phase of the hospital is aimed to be completed by June 2026, which will deliver numerous ambulatory services and specialty services like Wound and Ostomy Care, Intravenous Chemotherapy and Ambulatory Surgical Center.
The hospital will have a floor area of 16,000 square meters which has a total cost of P 572 million.
Valenzuela Health Ambulatory and Surgical Center is set to be fully operational by July 2027.
To address the growing population of the city, Gatchalian said that the local government has already hired additional doctors, dentists, midwives and medical technologists that will cover the health centers.
Each health center will have one doctor, with an additional doctor assigned to centers serving populations of 20,000 or more.