BAUKO, Mountain Province – The dialysis center of the Luis Hora Memorial Regional Hospital (LHMRH), the lone regional hospital in the Cordillera Administrative Region, is now open for with chronic kidney disease (CKD) as the hospital finally received its license to operate and also accredited with the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PHIC).
The dream for a hemodialysis unit for the LHMRH started in 2010 when the late Mountain Province Representative Maximo B. Dalog initiated the funding of the hospital’s capital outlay for the construction of a hemodialysis building. Dalog further facilitated the provision of dialysis machines not only for the LHMRH but also for the Bontoc General Hospital.
It will be recalled that during the leadership of Dr. Glenn Mathew Baggao as chief of hospital, the groundbreaking for the construction of the dialysis building was done on May 18, 2016. After ten months, ten (10) Dialysis Units were delivered to the hospital on March 8, 2017. On April 12, 2017, the Blessing and Inauguration of the Dialysis Building took place.
When the current hospital chief, Dr. Eduardo Calpito, took over, he assisted in the processing of documentary requirements and accreditation for the dialysis center. Effective September 22, 2017 the license to operate was given to the hospital following the effectivity of the PHIC accreditation on October 6, 2017. Around this time, the hospital is ready to accommodate patients for hemodialysis treatment.
The LHMRH dialysis center is composed of a team headed by Dr. Cheryl Menia. Dr. Menia said that since there is an increasing number of dialysis patients in the Cordillera especially in Mountain Province and given the expensive cost of treatment of the disease, it is hoped that the opening of the dialysis center will ease the burden of the patients and family members.
Dr. Menia also announced the requirements for patients who wish to transfer at LHMRH for hemodialysis treatment: Endorsement letter; latest laboratory-hepatitis profile; latest treatment sheet; and Updated PHIC MDR.
On the part of the Office of the Congressman, Atty. Cyphrine Maxcel Dalog informed that the office will assist the patients with kidney disease through the Medical Assistance Program (MAP). She also informed that she will facilitate and follow up the appropriation of additional fund for LHMRH in the amount of 1,500,000.00 particularly for the medical assistance program to replenish for the depleting funds allotted for 2017.
Further, Atty. Dalog asked the dialysis patients who are not yet member of the Kataguan Dialysis Patients Organization of Mountain Province to apply for membership so that they can avail of the benefits being given by the recently launched Maximo B. Dalog Foundation.
By Wabilyn Leanne Lomong-oy
Please check spelling of Name of the Chief I think it is Dr. Calpito