Manila Mayor Honey Lacuna announced that the city’s 44 health centers spread all over the city’s six districts are now offering new additional services on top of the usual health services that are being given for free to all residents, as she also called on barangay authorities to urge their constituents to avail of such services.
Lacuna said that these new services include clinical laboratories, ECG and ultrasound for pregnant women, on top of the free medicines which are being given also for free such as metformin, losartan and many more.
It was learned from Manila health department chief Dr. Arnold Pangan that there is no more need for an online appointment system for consultations and that the health centers are open from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays to Fridays.
Pangan said that while walk-ins are being entertained, those who opt to register online for an appointment will also be attended to, adding that the purpose of the online appointment is for city health authorities to already have in advance a file of one’s data for future needs and faster processing.
According to Lacuna, so invited the residents to pay the health centers a visit and know the different free primary health care services being given there for free.
Lacuna, a doctor, cited the importance of visiting the health centers and availing of the free check-ups without having to wait for any illness to set in.
“Prevention is always better than cure. Tangkilikin ninyo ang ating mga health centers. Pabakunahan po ninyo ang inyong mga anak, apo o alaga,” she stressed.
“‘Wag na po kayong makipagsiksikan sa ospital, kng matutugunan ng health center ang inyong problema. Sila po ang magssabi kung kailangang sa ospital kayo magpunta,” the mayor added.
In such cases, Lacuna said the health center concerned will refer the patient to the hospital nearest to him or her.
