Davao del Norte – Constituents were happy to benefit from the flurry of enhanced health care services carried out by the provincial government of Davao del Norte to ensure the well-being of the Dabaonons.
Twenty-two-year-old Sabel, who asked her family name to be withheld, was all praises to the provincial leadership for bringing free healthcare, among dozens of other services, during the BEST PEOPLE Festival of Services (FOS) in Visayan Village, Tagum City.
“Salamat kang Governor Anthony del Rosario sa paghatag niining libre nga mga serbisyo. Naglantaw jud siya sa among kaayuhan,” she said after getting a 30-minute body massage.
The laundrywoman availed of free medical check-up, medicines, hairdressing, and PhilHealth services, which are among the over 80 services provided by the usually week-long caravan of services.
Gov. del Rosario rolled out the FOS to the different local government units of the province starting February 2018 to bring the government closer to the people.
The multi-services caravan provides medical and dental services, social services, legal registration, application and renewal of licenses, clearances, permits and passports, executive courses and community dialogue, sports and youth development, and grooming and wellness, among dozens more.
The FOS completes the enhanced health care service delivery of the province, to include promotive, preventive, curative, rehabilitative and palliative health services that the people so deserve.
In pursuit of his BEST PEOPLE development agenda, the governor strengthened the capability of the three provincial hospitals; namely the Davao del Norte Hospitals - Kapalong Zone, Carmen Zone and Samal Zone.
The governor also launched the DavNor Malasakit Center Pagkalinga sa Kapwa Program, which provide zero-billing scheme to indigents admitted in public hospitals.
“In accordance with our Abilidad at Malasakit (AMA) strategy, we offered these packages to ensure that our people obtain the health services they need without suffering financial hardship during medical emergencies,” del Rosario said.
The governor said the medical consultation and health education components of the FOS have become an important promotive and preventive element of the health care program of the province.
“This is our way of protecting our people from being pushed into further poverty because of the prohibitive cost of health care,” the governor stressed. “With the abundance of health care services that we provide, there is no reason that our people cannot avail of basic health services crucial in ensuring their well-being.”
To date, close to a hundred thousand beneficiaries have already availed of the dental, medical and health services provided by the FOS. Nearly 20,000 inpatient and about 60,000 outpatient clients further benefitted from the services of the three provincial hospitals. While more than 265 emergency patients have so far availed of the zero-billing terms offered by the DavNor Malasakit Center, amounting to close to P1 million.
All in all, over 100,000 recipients have benefitted from the 25 one-stop FOS caravans, which was held in coordination with other national government agencies.
Over 1,000 unmarried couples who were living together further received the sacrament of matrimony during the Kasalang Bayan (mass wedding) staged during the FOS.
The province allotted P14.6 million for the implementation of the FOS during the first semester of 2019. The amount almost matched the allocation earmarked by the province for the program last year in the amount of P15.2 million.
