• CHERYL G. CRUZ
The newly-opened two-storey Cancer Care Center at Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital (CLMMRH) in Bacolod City, which can accommodate about 40 patients, will start operating on Aug. 26.
The center is equipped to deliver IV (intravenous) chemotherapy, bone marrow biopsies, lumbar punctures, intrathecal chemo, child life services, and seamless referrals for radiotherapy, Dr. Razel Nikka Hao, regional director of the Department of Health-Negros Island Region, said during the facility’s inauguration Aug. 20.
Hao stressed that the center, worth P35 million, is not just a treatment site. “It is the apex of a regional cancer care network (since the) CLMMRH, as our regional apex hospital, carries the mandate of not only providing specialized services but also in leading the mentoring of provincial hospitals, supporting early detection at the primary care level, ensuring that referrals are seamless, and setting the standard of care for the whole Negros Island Region.”
CLMMRH must not only treat patients within its walls; it must also cultivate a network that ensures that no cancer patient in Bacolod and NIR is left behind, she said.
CLMMRH medical center chief II, Dr. Joan Cerrada, said the facility aims to provide access to more patients and give them better experience.
“Cancer is presently the second highest cause of mortality among Filipinos – it becomes a primary health concern. So it is important that cancer care should be accessible, comprehensive, and affordable,” Cerrada stressed, adding the hospital’s cancer center alone caters to around 180 pediatric and 1,500 adult patients a year.
She said the new cancer care center will be a one-stop-shop for patients and their families since it also houses a child life program clinic, survivorship/quality of life clinic, oncology pharmacy, DOH-PHIC access office, billing/medical, social services stations, and counseling, among others.
Mayor Greg Gasataya, who helped lobby for the project when he was still congressman of Bacolod, meanwhile, said this first-ever public Cancer Care Center in the NIR is “a sanctuary for healing and a place of hope for Bacolodnon and Negrosanon cancer patients.”
He noted that “many of our people, especially our indigent brothers and sisters, were fighting cancer without access to specialized care. Some were forced to travel far, suffer in silence, or even forego treatment altogether.”
“This is one of our solutions to make quality and accessible healthcare readily available for our people,” Gasataya said in a statement. “We hope that this Cancer Care Center becomes a light in the fight against cancer for today and generations to come.” | CGC
