MANDAUE CITY, Cebu— Before the year ends, the Eversley Child’s Sanitarium in Barangay Jagobiao of this city will have its own Malasakit Center.
Presidential Assistant for the Visayas (OPAV) Secretary Michael Lloyd Dino said they decided to set up a Malasakit Center in Eversley after a formal request was sent to his office by Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes and sixth district Representative Emmarie “Lollypop” Ouano-Dizon.
“Now, I commit that we will put a Malasakit Center inside Eversley,” Dino told reporters at the sideline of the Mandaue City 50th Charter Day celebration held at the Mandaue City Cultural and Sports Complex on Friday, August 30.
Malasakit Center, which serves as a one-stop-shop mainly for indigent patients who wish to avail of the government’s health services and medical assistance, was first established at the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center in February 2018. It had an initial funding of P50 million.
In April 2019, President Rodrigo Duterte signed Republic Act 11273,which converted Eversley Child’s Sanitarium into a general hospital.
This means that Eversley will now be called Eversley Child’s Sanitarium and General Hospital with a 200-bed capacity from only 50 beds.
During the League of Municipalities of the Philippines (LMP)-Cebu meeting at the City Sports Club in Cebu City on Friday afternoon, Dino also urged the mayors to formalize their request for a Malasakit Center in their local hospitals.
Dino said that the national government has yet to determine the amount that will be poured into new Malasakit centers.
“We do not know yet but maybe for 200-bed capacity that will be P5 million. For a 600-bed capacity hospital like the CCMC, maybe that will be P10 million,” Dino said.
Aside from Eversley, Dino said the national government may be keen on opening one more Malasakit Center in the north and another in the southern section of the province.
He added that they would consider opening a Malasakit center in bigger government hospitals since those would offer more services and can cater to more patients./elb