GOOD news to sixth district residents of Manila suffering from kidney problems but cannot afford the high cost of dialysis treatments.

Mayor Isko Moreno and Vice Mayor Honey Lacuna inaugurated yesterday the newly-rehabilitated Sta. Ana Hospital Dialysis Center equipped with state-of-the art equipments and features at par with services being offered in private hospitals.

Moreno said the newest dialysis center which will be under the able supervision of hospital director Dr. Grace Padilla and located on the sixth floor, is the third in the city to be offering free dialysis treatments. The other two hospitals that also have dialysis centers are the Ospital ng Maynila in the fifth district and the Gat Andres Bonifacio Memorial Medical Center (GABMMC) under hospital director Dr. Ted Martin.

The one falling under Martin, known as the Flora Valisno-Siojo Dialysis Center, is touted to be the biggest in Southeast Asia and was named after the beloved grandmother of the late Mayor Fred Lim.

According to Moreno, the Sta. Ana Dialysis Center, just like the ones at OM and the GABMMC, will also be offering dialysis services for free, noting that such treatments cost about P2,200 to P5,000 each and are needed to be done three times a week.

The mayor stated with pride that the city government did not spend a single centavo on the said center, as the money used amounting to P20 million came from a donor who did not want to be named and merely wanted to help.

Moreno said that the newest dialysis center of the city has 11 seats with six fresinus hemodialysis machines, high-end HD machines and two machines with portable reverse osmosis. It also has negative pressure room for COVID-19 patients complete with high efficiency particulate (HEPA) filter and portable reverse osmosis, as well as 11 television sets with wireless bluetooth headsets that could help entertain the patients while undergoing dialysis.

The center, Moreno added, is also equipped with a new ECG machine, defibrillator, suction machine, ECart with medications, digital wheelchair weighing scale, computers and printers.

For her part, Padilla told Moreno that the center can accommodate 12 patients per day and will be in operation from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. from Monday to Friday, with nurses working on shifts. During weekends, or on Saturdays and Sundays, only emergency dialysis will be done.

According to Padilla, the new center will serve 26 patients per month in three times a week dialysis but once the dialysis center becomes fully-maximized, 11 dialysis machines will be utilized with 22 patients per day capacity accomodating 66 patients per month.

Padilla added that there will also be isolation rooms for dialysis patients with COVID-19 while another dialysis unit will be placed at the Intensive Care Unit.

At the GABMMC’s Siojo Dialysis Center, Dr. Martin said regular patients are scheduled for treatment every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday while COVID-suspects are treated every Wednesdays and Saturdays.

The dialysis patients are also brought to and from their homes every session through service vehicles as per order of the mayor, Martin added.