More features added to new NCotabato hospital

NORTH COTABATO, Philippines - Residents of the hinterland Arakan town started 2014 with a “special bonus,” courtesy of the provincial government, the Department of Health (DOH) and the vaunted European Commission (EC).

North Cotabato Gov. Emmylou Talino-Mendoza and physician Teogenes Baluma, director of DOH for Region 12, jointly launched the other day the new delivery and operating rooms at the Arakan District Hospital (ADH), built by the health department, the governor’s office, and the EC.

The EC has also been helping in the government’s peace overture with Moro sectors in Southern Mindanao.

Baluma said he and his subordinates are overwhelmed with the support of the North Cotabato provincial government to the DOH and EC’s effort to improve the ADH, which is located at the town proper of Arakan, in the second district of North Cotabato.

Mendoza, whose office has been helping provide continuing health interventions to Arakan residents through the provincial health office, and Baluma also opened to public use the newly constructed out-patient building inside the ADH compound.

The provincial government had also put up a new water system and a septic vault at the hospital to maximize the safety of patients and medical personnel from health hazards unclean water and improper waste disposal can cause.

The office of Mendoza has spent close to P500,000 for the construction of the water system and the septic vault.

Mendoza said she is thankful to the DOH and the EC for helping improve the ADH through their Health Facility Enhancement Program, and the External Action Service, respectively.

Mendoza’s office, through the Integrated Provincial Health Office, already served thousands of indigent North Cotabato residents through medical and dental outreach activities in different towns since her first election to office in 2010.

Baluma said he was impressed with the hospital’s upgraded through the cooperation of the provincial government, the DOH and the EC.

“It is very clear now that the medical and health facilities in North Cotabato province have changed and improved --- towards a bigger, wider scope of service,” Baluma said.

Mendoza and representatives from the DOH-12 inaugurated last December the new P64 million-worth building for the Cotabato Provincial Hospital in Kidapawan City.

The new hospital building was also provided with new medical equipment and facilities by the DOH-12 and the Mendoza’s office