Modern trauma center now open at government hospital

CEBU, Philippines - Only three weeks after it was donated by the University of San Carlos (USC), the trauma center at the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC) already handled around 50 percent of the surgical operations done at the hospital.

The St. Arnold Janssen-VSSMC Trauma Center is the only trauma center in the Visayas region. The facility was opened to the public just last August 13 and serves as a base hospital for USC nursing students.

The trauma center is a five-storey facility inside the VSMMC compound, at the back of the main building. The first floor is the emergency room while the operation room and the intensive care unit is at the second floor.

The third floor, meanwhile, houses separate wards for female and male trauma patients while the fourth floor serves cases of burns.

The various offices and the conference room are at the fourth floor and on top of it is the helipad.

Dr. Joseph Al Alesna, chief of the Office of Special Concerns at the VSMMC said that the trauma center has changed many lives since it opened. 

Its administrators are procuring more equipment for the facility, which can accommodate between 40 to 50 patients at one time. It deals with patients suffering from traumatic injuries such as vehicular accidents and gunshot wounds.

Danielo Teorica, a senior nurse, said that the center addresses the immediate need of the patients considering that time is vital in saving the lives of the patients. (THE FREEMAN)