MALACAÑANG is eyeing to establish in other parts of the country the Malasakit Center being piloted in the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center in Cebu City.
Special Assistant to the President Christopher Lawrence T. Go made this statement during his recent visit in Cebu, two days before they launched the facility in the Eastern Visayas Regional Medical Center in Tacloban City (EVRMC).
The EVRMC, the premier health and wellness facility in the region, has a new imposing six-story structure enhanced with a Malasakit (compassion) Center.
On Tuesday Cielito S. Avanceña and Presidential Assistant for Visayas Michael Lloyd Lee Dino unveiled the marker of the new main building as part of the inauguration ceremony while Go stood by as witness.
The move signified the formal opening of the health and medical services of the hospital to the public.
The Office of the Presidential Assistant for the Visayas is the lead agency behind the Malasakit Center, which is funded by the socio-civic funds of the Office of the President.
Go said they are also considering the setting up of the same “one-stop shop” center in Bacolod City and Iloilo City.
The possibility of setting up the center in provincial hospitals was also brought up during a news conference last Sunday in Cebu City. Go told reporters he will talk to Health Secretary Francisco T. Duque III first, considering the number of provincial hospitals nationwide.
Dino said that as of in Saturday, around 13,000 patients have already been assisted by the Malasakit Center since its launching in February.
The Malasakit Center at VSMMC gets P50 million every month from Duterte, Dino added. The socio-civic funds of the president primarily come from sin taxes, according to Foreign Secretary Alan Peter S. Cayetano.
The center is a one-stop shop comprised of different agencies that help families of patients who wish to settle medical expenses such as the Department of Social Welfare and Development, Philippine Health Insurance Corp., the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. and the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office.