Sarangani hospitals get P95-M medical equipment from DOH

Photo taken by Jake Narte on October 26 during the ceremonial turnover of brand-new medical equipment and supplies at the Sarangani Healthcare Facility.

ALABEL, Sarangani (November 4, 2021) – The six provincial government-run hospitals in Sarangani have obtained P95-million worth of brand-new medical equipment from the Department of Health (DOH) as part of the Universal Health Care (UHC) Law.

Total equipment cost for each hospital varies with the P20M for Glan Medicare Community Hospital, P10M for the Malungon Municipal Hospital, P14.5M for Maasim Municipal Hospital, P20M for Dr. Cornelio T. Martinez Sr. Memorial Hospital in Kiamba, P6M for Maitum Municipal Hospital, and P25M for the Sarangani Healthcare Facility (SHF) inside Capitol compound in Alabel.

Health Regional Director Dr. Aristides Tan turned over the medical equipment on October 27 at the SHF which were part of their “2017 fund allocation” for the provision of medical equipment in the different hospitals in the region.

In Sarangani, the equipment turned over were X-ray, Ultrasound and Ventilator machines, a brand-new unit of ambulance and operating tables which Provincial Health Officer Dr. Arvin Alejandro expected to “drive the medical staff to better their service to the people.”

According to Alejandro, the said equipment will immediately be of use soon as the supplier will finish the installation as well as the needed training and orientation to properly operate the equipment.

As among the pilot sites of the implementation of the UHC, Alejandaro said Sarangani was afforded with the medical equipment as the UHC Law, he said, targets to provide equipment and other needs of the hospitals in the identified implementation sites.

“For as long as we comply with the necessary requirements for the UHC maturity levels one, two and three," Alejandro said, "there are more coming equipment and supplies next year."

RD Tan anticipated the equipment delivered will be a “driving force” for the improvement of the three Level 1 hospitals in Sarangani and for the Sarangani Healthcare Facility to deliver the “best medical service.”

He, too, expected that implementation of the UHC Law in the province will be successful.

As of this writing, Sarangani has already three Level 1 hospitals situated in Malungon, Glan and Kiamba. Alejandro said these “are duly approved to serve as Covid—19 facility.” Also, he said, the SHF is already applying for its accreditation to be a Level 1 hospital.

“A certificate of need has already been issued which is the first requirement to become a Level 1 hospital,” Alejandro said.

The continuous improvements in the health sector in Sarangani were made possible with the strong tandem of Governor Steve Chiongbian Solon, Deputy Speaker Congressman Rogelio Pacquiao, and Vice Governor Elmer De Peralta with the full support of the town mayors and all the members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan.

Meanwhile, Governor Solon commended all the medical staff “who are tirelessly working and who are taking the risk every day to give their service to those who are in need.”

The UHC Law was signed by President Rodrigo Roa Duterte in February 2019 to usher in massive reforms in the Philippine health sector.

Among the salient features of the UHC Law are the expansion of population, service, and financial coverage through an array of health system amendments.

The UHC Law ensures that every Filipino is healthy, protected from health hazards and risks, and has access to affordable, quality, and readily available health service that is suitable to their needs.

 (Joshua John Pantonial/SARANGANI PROVINCIAL INFORMATION OFFICE)

A DISPLAY OF FAITH

What is the true meaning of faith? Faith means: belief, firm persuasion, assurance, firm conviction, faithfulness. Faith is confidence in what we hope for and the assurance that the lord is working, even though we cannot see it. Faith knows that no matter what the situation, in our lives or someone else's that the lord is working in it.

Trust or reliance? What does faith mean for you, my dear readers?  To say it clearly: without faith we are really nothing. Faith is belief; believe in us, beliefs in our works, talents and personalities. Faith - a great challenge in us and our future.

We also should believe in our parents or better, in the whole family including the black sheep, who can be found everywhere. We should also believe in our friends, even sometimes it seems to become a very difficult task. A friend? A real friend? An expatriate friend...?

Without faith, we will be reaching the rock bottom. Please don't say, it's a likely story. The German poet Johann Christian Friedrich von Schiller (1759-1815) mentioned in his drama "Maria Stuart": "Even the word might be dead, but faith keeps it alive." Yes, I can live with this.

Faith and hope belong together. In his book "Through the Valley of the Kwai", Scottish officer Ernest Gordon wrote of his years as a prisoner of World War II. The 6'2'' man suffered from malaria, diphtheria, typhoid, beriberi and jungle ulcers. Many circumstances quickly plunged his weight to less than 100 pounds. Lying in the dirt of the death house, he waited to die. But every day, a fellow prisoner came to wash his wounds and to encourage him to eat parts of his own rations. As this fellow prisoner nursed Ernest back to health, he talked with the agnostic Scotsman of his own strong faith in God and showed him that, even in the midst of suffering - there is hope - and faith!

Faith is indeed tantamount to convincing and conviction. Richard Wagner, a German classical composer and poet found the following lyric: "Blessed are those people, who know how to live their life in humility and faith!"

Well, let's even continue believing in our government. Faithful hope is loyal, reliable, exact and honorable.

Faith looks beyond the transient life with hope for all eternity. The hope we read in scripture is not a wishy-washy optimism. First and second Chapter of Thessalonians, for example, give encouragement to all Christians, who have been undergoing persecution for their faith. And, Corinthians 13:2 says: "If I have faith it can move mountains!"

Let’s have proper focus in life

By Fr. Roy Cimagala

          CONSIDERING that our life here on earth offers us a lot of

things and options, plus the fact that we of course enjoy freedom, we

need to be reminded that we have to learn how to have proper focus in

life, especially because we have a lot of distractions in our world.

          Also we should be ready to leave everything behind when God

finally calls us. And, yes, we also have to know how to exercise our

freedom properly for a certain law governs it. It just cannot be used

in any which way. That would not be freedom, but rather its abuse.

          All these are somehow implied in that gospel episode where

Christ lamented about the loose lifestyle of some people then. “As it

was in the days of Noah, so it will be in the days of the Son of Man,”

he said. “They were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in

marriage up to the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came

and destroyed them all.” (Lk 17,26-27)

          To have the proper focus in life is a big challenge today.

At the moment, we can see a disturbing development involving many

people, especially the young. A big segment of the people is getting

addicted to games and the many other novelties played out in the

Internet and in the new technologies.

          They are now getting more self-centered and self-absorbed,

prone to idleness, laziness and comfort and pleasure seeking. God and

their relationship to others are all but blotted out of their

consciousness.

          We now have the huge challenge of how to make God the

be-all-and-end-all of our life. We need to present Christ’s words in

this regard in a way that would be attractive to the people of today

with their peculiar sensitivity and culture. Let’s remember that

Christ himself did everything to adapt himself to us to carry out his

redemptive mission.

          How can we present, for example, the following words of

Christ to the people of today without scaring them: “Seek first the

kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things shall be

added unto you?” (Mt 6,33)

          We need to understand that our life here on earth is only a

training and testing ground God gives us to see if what he wants us to

be is also what we would like ourselves to be. We should be ready to

leave everything behind when God finally calls us to himself to render

account of what he has given us.

          Yes, to leave everything behind has been more than amply

taught and commanded by Christ himself. For example, to the rich young

man who wanted to be perfect, Christ told him in no unclear terms, “If

you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor,

and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” (Mt 19,21)

These words obviously would give us the impression that we should

possess nothing.

          In another instance, Christ specifies what is required to be

worthy of him. “He that loveth father or mother more than me is not

worthy of me; and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not

worthy of me.” (Mt 10,37)

          We also need to understand that the proper exercise of our

freedom is when we use our freedom to do the will of God for us.

That’s the law, and no other, that governs our freedom.

* Chaplain Center for Industrial Technology and Enterprise (CITE), Talamban, Cebu City

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com