Free dialysis to be offered in 2 Cebu City barangays

Local

RELIEF is on the way for kidney patients in Cebu City.

This comes as free dialysis services will soon be made available in Barangays Talamban and Guadalupe.

The program was formalized on Friday, August 29, through a memorandum of agreement (MOA) signed between the barangays and JL Dialmed Trading Co., led by Jefferlyx O. Natividad, at the office of Mayor Nestor Archival. Vice Mayor Tomas Osmeña joined the ceremony along with Barangay Captains Apol Enriquez of Guadalupe and Dario Arcilla of Talamban.

Work on the facilities is scheduled to start immediately, with JL Dialmed handling the renovation and installation of the dialysis machines.

Both centers are expected to be ready before the end of the month. The Talamban unit will rise on the third floor of the barangay health center, while the Guadalupe machines will be set up in a building beside the barangay hall.

Archival said the initiative is part of his administration’s broader effort to strengthen healthcare access in Cebu City.

“We hope that as we go forward in our two and a half years, we continue to find ways to serve the government through this health program,” he said.

The free dialysis rollout follows Archival’s earlier announcement of a “zero billing” policy that would ensure indigent patients in city-run hospitals leave without paying out of pocket.

The mayor has said the Cebu City Medical Center, once completed and accredited by PhilHealth, will serve as the cornerstone of this plan.

Dialysis in private facilities typically costs P7,000 to P8,000 per session, an expense many families cannot sustain. The upcoming centers in Talamban and Guadalupe are expected to ease that burden for residents who rely on life-sustaining treatment.(TGP)