Negros Oriental Governor Manuel Sagarbarria reported significant strides of his administration in the field of health on Monday, August 5.

Speaking at the Negros Oriental Convention Center in Dumaguete City, Sagarbarria said his administration relentlessly worked hard to address issues and concerns after seeing the people “hungry for change.”

“Today, I stand before you with immense pride and gratitude, witnessing how we have not only risen but have gone further than what many expected,” he said during his first State of the Province Address since taking over two others who died last year.

Among the significant accomplishments is the award they received from the Department of Health in Central Visayas (DOH-7) as the most responsive health facility in the region, owing to its electronic referral system.

The DOH-7 also recognized Negros Oriental for its trainings in Basic Life Support, especially for physicians, nurses and other hospital staff.

“We make sure that all our physicians [will receive] advanced cardio life support training,” Sagarbarria said.

On health care infrastructure at the Negros Oriental Provincial Hospital (NOPH), the province constructed a four-story annex building; built a solid waste facility for proper hospital waste disposal and management; and renovated and improved the dietary building and north wing facility.

The governor highlighted the new four-story dialysis center at the NOPH to be completed in three months and which can accommodate 200 patients daily with 30 new machines.

Each session will cost an affordable P1,000, lower than the usual rate of about P2,500, he said.

Finally, in three months, the provincial government will break ground on its “most ambitious” and “monumental” project, the Negros Oriental Medical City.

It is an eight-story, 400-bed building on a two-hectare property in Barangay Piapi that will include heart and cancer centers. (PNA)