DAGUPAN CITY – The Department of Health (DOH) led by officer-in-charge Undersecretary Dr. Maria Rosario Clarissa Singh-Vergeire has vowed to help the Region 1 Medical Center (R1MC) here complete their expansion projects to accommodate the huge volume of patients.
DOH officer-in-charge Undersecretary Rosario Vergeire visits a patient at the Region 1 Medical Center in Dagupan City. (Photo via LiezleBasa- Inigo)
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Vergeire, DOH Undersecretary Dr. Enrique Tayag, and other ranking Health officials visited the R1MC on Friday, April 21, to inspect ongoing these projects.
She expressed support for the hospital’s expansion projects, particularly its Intensive Care Unit.
“Makapagpatayo tayo ng ICU…na 20 beds ang puwede. So we can decongest the (wards). (Mas) maiayos natin ang mga pasyente. The goal for the next three months is walang pasyente sa corridor (We will build an ICU with a 20-bed capacity so we can decongest the wards. So that patients will be more comfortable. Our goal for the next three months is patients will no longer be staying in the corridors),” she said in a message during a program at the hospital’s FQD Hall.
“I would like to recognize the efforts of R1MC chief Dr. Joseph Roland Mejia that in spite of the ongoing construction in the hospital, that in spite of the deluge of patients, ginawan pa ng paraan kung paano pa mapapasaayos ang ospital (he did something to put the hospital in order),” she said.
Mejia stressed the hospital’s achievements and its strategic plan to position itself as the “premier end-referral hospital in Northern Luzon by 2024.”
“We aim to improve our healthcare services to the 3.8 million Pangasinenses aside from the referrals from (hospitals) from nearby provinces,” he said.
Mejia thanked Tayag and Vergeire for their endorsement of the expansion of the R1MC’s bed capacity from 600 to 1,500.
Prior to visiting R1MC, Vergeire launched the “Sulong Kalusugan para sa mga Katutubo” health caravan in Sison, Pangasinan.
The health caravan featured nutrition, oral health, mental health services, primary care consultations, and immunization. Also included were screenings for hypertension, stroke, diabetes, including diabetic retinopathy, and cancer, including cervical cancer, among others.