1 month ago
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ALAMINOS CITY, Pangasinan — After 62 years, the Western Pangasinan District Hospital (WPDH) has finally opened its own dialysis cen-ter.
The facility, which began operations last week, is equipped with 15 dialysis machines, offering much-needed medical care to patients in the western towns of Pangasinan.
"Now, we do not have to travel for two hours to the Pangasinan Provincial Hospital (PPH) in San Carlos City for my dialysis sessions," said Descebelle Ordoñez, a dialysis patient from the neighboring town of Bani.
PPH and WPDH are among the 14 hospitals run by the provincial government.
Dr. Ma. Teresa Sanchez, WPDH chief, said that patients with kidney problems can now avail of free treatments at the center. For those unable to fully cover treatment costs through health insurance, additional assistance is available via the Medical Assistance for Indigent and Financially Incapacitated Patients program.
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Dr. Raquel Ogoy, head of the Provincial Hospital Management Services Office, emphasized the significance of a recent devel-opment from the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth).
Circular 2024-0014, issued in July 2023, institutionalized an annual allowance of 156 hemodialysis sessions under Phil-Health's expanded benefits package.
This expanded package is designed for beneficiaries diagnosed with chronic kidney disease Stage 5 (CKD5) who are registered in the PhilHealth Dialysis Database. Covered services include free medications, laboratory tests, medical supplies (such as low-flux or high-flux dialyzers) and administrative services. The circular ensures that all PhilHealth beneficiaries with CKD5 undergo-ing hemodialysis will incur no out-of-pocket costs for these services.
The WPDH Dialysis Center currently serves 29 registered patients, with 11 undergoing regular treatment.
In preparation for the center's Jan. 13 opening, over 50 medical and allied professionals from 14 government hospitals un-derwent intensive training in Advanced Cardiac Life Support.
The establishment of dialysis centers in district and community hospitals across Pangasinan forms part of the provincial government's hospital modernization program.
