Residents of Taguig City need not go to private hospitals to avail of high-quality healthcare services.
Under the administration of Mayor Laarni Cayetano, residents are assured that Taguig City, known as “probinsyudad,” is not left behind when it comes to high-quality innovations and modern upgrades in healthcare.
The city-run Taguig Pateros District Hospital recently installed brand new equipment that will provide better healthcare services to residents.
Among these are the C-Arm, a medical imaging device based on X-ray technology, and an endoscopy machine used for upper gastrointestinal endoscopy (to look into the esophagus, stomach, and small intestines), lower gastrointestinal endoscopy (rectum, colon) and bronchoscopy (lungs).
TPDH also acquired modern blood-clotting devices such as the Erbe electrocautery machine and Argon plasma coagulator. Argon plasma coagulation (APC) is a form of electrosurgery that helps control internal bleeding in the gastrointestinal tract, liver, and spleen, among others.
The equipment uses argon gas turned into plasma, aiding clotting when sprayed on the lesion. The electrocautery machine heats tissues with electricity to prevent or stop bleeding after an injury or during surgery.
The hospital now has its own Mammography Center and CT Scan facility equipped with a Siemens Somatom 16 Slice CT Scan, a Digital X-Ray and a Digital Mobile X-Ray. These equipment provide high-quality images with lesser waiting time.
On top of all these is the newest addition to city-run hospital which is the brand-new laparoscopic machine. It enables doctors to operate on a patient’s abdomen through small incisions, with the aid of a camera.
“With the installation of this machine, doctors don’t need to do massive incisions to patients,” explained Dr. Timoteo Neil Trinidad, chairperson of the Department of Surgical Sciences and head of the ER Trauma Department at TPDH.
The laparoscopic machine allows the surgeons to do a minimally invasive procedure which is associated with less pain and less danger for the patient. With the laparoscopic surgery, patients enjoy a shorter hospital stay as long as they do not encounter complications.
A laparoscopic machine has many uses but is particularly well-suited for procedures like cholecystectomy “• the surgical removal of the gallbladder, hernia and gastrointestinal perforation.
Dr. Trinidad explained that almost all surgeries are possible with the amazing capability of the laparoscopy machine.
Presently, three to four surgeons in TPDH are skilled on the use of the laparoscopy procedure, acknowledged as one of the very highly skilled procedures in the field of medicine. Only surgeons who are accredited or who have a specialization in the area can do the operation.
Dr. Trinidad said that the plan to purchase new medical devices in the future is always there. He explained that they will keep on researching new equipment that are more advanced, user- and patient-friendly.
“With these state-of-the-art upgrades of TPDH medical facilities, we assure our residents that the city government is determined in providing the best healthcare services,” Mayor Cayetano said.
Since her first term in 2010, Cayetano has helped raise the quality of the facilities at the city hospital. TPDH now operates the Taguig City Human Milk Bank, the Taguig Social Hygiene Drop-in Center, a TB-DOTS clinic and its own Home Health Unit, which provides free home-care nursing services for bedridden patients.
In 2015, the Department of Health recognized TPDH as a Mother-Baby Friendly Hospital.
The city makes it a point to enroll indigent patients to PhilHealth’s Point-of-Care Program. The program allows financially incapable patients – either non-members classified as Class C-3 or D; or members not covered due to the lack of qualifying contribution and classified as Class C-3 or D “• to get the medical treatment they need.
TPDH also implements Philhealth’s “no-balance billing” scheme which makes medical treatments for indigents free-of-charge.
The local government of Taguig intends to continue finding ways to provide top-class medical services to its constituents without sacrificing the essence of public service: affordability and accessibility.
“What we want is for every Taguigeño to avail in our very own hospital the same quality medical service private hospitals offer “• without them having to travel far or pay as much. Everything that we have done so far is for the greater good of our constituents,” Cayetano added.
