TB Wellness Center at Vicente Gullas Memorial Hospital

CEBU, Philippines - A new facility, called the VGMH-DOTS Wellness Center, opened at the Vicente Gullas Memorial Hospital (VGMH) in Banilad. The opening was timed with the celebration of the birth anniversary of the late Doña Josefina Gullas on March 13. Dr. Jose R. Gullas, the lady's youngest son, was in attendance to formally open the Center. He was assisted by Dr. Jocelyn Tabo-tabo (NTP Regional Coordinator), Dr. Nelda R. Pe (PhilHealth Reg. 7 head of Benefits Administration) and Tricia R. Gullas (VGMH hospital administrator).

The Board of Directors of VGMH was well aware of the hospital's social responsibility that when the Department of Health (DOH) launched the Private-Public Mix partnership in 1994 in the fight against tuberculosis, the hospital did not hesitate to participate in the endeavor. VGMH then became a Referral Hospital of the DOH, from where TB patients or TB suspects are referred to government health centers for free medicines.

The Directly Observed Treatment Short-Course (DOTS) is the strategy initiated and implemented by the DOH against tuberculosis. This involved finding of individual TB cases, giving free anti-TB medicines and making sure these medicines are actually taken by the    patients. Implementing the DOTS really requires political will and cooperation from the different sectors of the society, the reason why the Public-Private Mix was launched.

From looking after individual TB patients, the VGMH-DOTS Wellness Center hopes to later expand its services to industrial companies in Mandaue City and nearby cities and towns. VGMH Medical Director Dr. Leticia F. Abinuman, who also handles certain industrial companies, finds the Center to be a big help. Whenever the yearly chest x-ray results of the employees show suspicious lesions, sputum exam for TB Bacilli can now be performed in the Center, a convenient option for employees who are not comfortable to have their sputum examination in congested government health centers. In the VGMH-DOTS Wellness Center, the result is available in 24 to 48 hours. When the result is positive for TB, free medicines are then provided by the Center, courtesy of the DOH.

In addition, VGMH Administrator  Ms. Tricia R. Gullas encourages the hospital staff to make the Center's clients  feel comfortable and be spared of the stigma concerning the disease while they are in the VGMH-DOTS Wellness Center.

In a message she delivered during a program in celebration of the World TB Day on March 25  (globally celebrated every March 24, the day Dr. Robert Koch discovered the Mycobacterium Tuberculosis in 1882) at Parklane International Hotel, Ms. Gullas emphasized the commitment of Vicente Gullas Memorial Hospital to DOTC project of DOH.

Also present at the opening of the Center were company physicians and nurses from industrial companies and the active medical staff of VGMH. With the Center now in existence, VGMH is on its way to become a provider hospital with PhilHealth accreditation.

For inquires on the range of services offered at the VGMH-DOTS Wellness Center, the phone numbers to call are (032) 346-6138 or (023) 346-9292. (FREEMAN)