GMA guest at senior citizens' hospital blessing

MANILA, Philippines – Senior citizens of Manila and nearby areas are now assured of quality and affordable healthcare after the first hospital in the city to cater to the specific needs of aging citizens opened its doors to the public yesterday.

 President Arroyo led the blessing and soft launching of the Dr. Eva Macaraeg-Macapagal National Center for Geriatric Health (NCGH) located along General Solano Street in Malacañang, Manila.

The geriatric health center will serve as “the country’s premier specialty center for providing better healthcare for senior citizens who comprise 8.7 million of all Filipinos in the 60-year-old and above age bracket,” a Palace statement said.

Statistics showed this number, recorded as of 2007, is steadily increasing at a rate of 2.3 percent annually.

Formerly called the Singian Hospital, a Chinese-run hospital, was later converted into Tahanan ng Masa by former President Joseph Estrada.

The NCGH is a 50-bed hospital facility housed in a four-story building with a total floor area of 5,477 square meters. The building will also house other important hospital facilities and rooms such as a pharmacy, a business office, emergency assessment room, out-patient clinics and a physical therapy room.

The second and third floors will contain the hospital’s clinical laboratory, x-ray and dialysis rooms as well as a research, medical records and training center on the fourth floor.

Built at a cost of P200 million, the hospital will be under the management of the Jose R. Reyes Memorial Medical Center, pending the enactment of House Bill No. 6245 An Act Establishing the Dr. Eva Macaraeg-Macapagal National Center for Geriatric Health into law.

Prior to the blessing and soft opening ceremonies of the geriatric center, Mrs. Arroyo and the First Family attended a Mass, officiated by Bishop Emeritus Federico Escaler S.J., at the nearby National Shrine of St. Michael the Archangel in commemoration of the 11th death anniversary of Doña Eva Macaraeg-Macapagal.