The Capitol is bringing the means to donate blood nearer to the blood donors with the newly refurbished P1.2 million mobile blood donation truck.
The truck which was blessed at the Capitol compound on Wednesday is also the first truck to do this kind of service in the country.
Dr. Rene Catan, Provincial Health Office (PHO) head, said in an interview on Thursday that this would be the first mobile blood donation truck in the country and it would go around the province to look for possible donors of blood.
Catan said the truck, which had at least eight chairs and complete equipment for the purpose, could accommodate about eight possible blood donors at once.
He said the truck would also have its first stopover in Bantayan in northern Cebu this year for the PHO’s blood donation program.
Catan said the donated blood would then be processed at the Capitol’s partner hospital, the Sacred Heart Hospital.
Catan described the truck as the Capitol’s old X-ray mobile unit that they converted into a mobile blood donation truck.
“Nakasave ta kay karaang (it was an old) X-ray mobile unit which was abandoned. Pero ang truck maayo pa (still functional). Atong gigamit ang karaang (We used the old) truck unya gi (and then we) refurbished nato,” Catan said. (We saved in converting the abandoned X-ray mobile unit, which was still functional. It was an old truck and we refurbished it.)
Meanwhile, Provincial Health Office is also planning to promote and upgrade the Cebu Provincial Hospital in Danao City into a level three hospital.
“This year atong paningkamoton nga ang (we are doing our best for) Danao mahimong (to become) level 3 nga makaprocess na dayon sa blood (This year we will do our best to upgrade the Danao hospital to become a level three hospital which can process blood),” Catan said.
According to the DOH, a level three hospital has among others, a blood bank.
Catan said the province had no capability to process blood.