More advanced health and medical services await the people of Camarines Sur as the Provincial Government procures two Hospital-on-Wheels that will be stationed in Tinambac and Iriga City. Even prior the pandemic, the province has always provided its people with medical services by conducting various medical missions with consistency and urgency.
The Provincial Government once again partnered with Sunfu Solutions Inc., a medical equipment company trusted by the country's largest hospitals and diagnostic clinics for their equipment needs, to have a bigger and an even more advanced hospital-on-wheels.
The Hospital-on-Wheels offers medical services, such as medical checkups for diabetes, cholesterol and fats, anemia, liver, and kidney, and checkups for heart, arteries, veins, thyroid, uterus, ovary, and breasts, which are not available in the other medical diagnostic vehicles.
While similar with the other medical diagnostic vehicles in providing services for complete blood count (CBC) tests, urinalysis, x-ray, ECG, physical examination, and common vaccines, the Hospital-On-Wheels is the only one that has a 2D echo and full ultrasound.
The Versana Active ultrasound machine installed in the hospital-on-wheels is complete in probes. It is a world-class ultrasound with a system that delivers the imaging capability of a console in a hand-carried, lightweight package that enables the medical professional to actively take their system to their patients on premises or to remote facilities. The medical team can now conduct 2d echo, transvaginal, and transrectal ultrasound to patients.
With the full ultrasound, fetal weight can be taken so that the parents can see whether the baby is malnourished or healthy. At the same time, the fetus can be tested for congenital heart disease while still in the womb, so that advance and safety health measures can be prepared and conducted before and during delivery.
Apart from installing top-rate medical equipment in the Hospital-on-Wheels, the province also hired medical professionals such as doctors, nurses, radiologic technologist, medical technologists, and laboratory aid that will man the vehicle. As of writing, these medical professionals have already begun their training in operating the machines and conducting the tests.
“Medical trainings are important for us nurses because it adds to our knowledge, which we will use once we are deployed in the communities. Personally, I already know how to use the ECG machine, but not like the one we that have here in the mobile hospital which is a portable and a high-end ECG machine,” said Mayumi Marjorie Velitario, a newly-hired nurse in the Provincial Health Office.
Being a hospital nurse for six years, Velitario expressed her excitement in being a field nurse and her admiration of the impressive programs and actions of the Provincial Government when it comes to medical missions. According to her, this will be an all-new experience for her. Whereas in the hospital setting, the patients are the ones who come to them seeking medical services, in the province, she will be the one visiting and personally reaching out to her fellow Camarinenses in need.
“It’s very fulfilling to see this Hospital-on-Wheels, these programs, because in these times of prevalent poverty where money is hard to come by and many sick people have no means of going to the hospital, what happens is they just endure the pain and ends up neglecting their health. But because of this Hospital-on-Wheels, we are able to help them and give them access to medical services for free,” furthered Velitario.
To ensure that we keep abreast with the changing times, innovative and modern solutions as new needs arise must be readied and initiated. That is why the Provincial Government continues to procure medical diagnostic vehicles that will help ensure the health and welfare of its people.
At present, the province already has 2 medical diagnostic van, 1 laboratory bus, 1 dental bus, and 2 hospital-on-wheels that are making rounds and giving medical services to its people in need for free, reaching even the farthest communities in Camarines Sur.
