Skip to main content

Point-of-Care Program beneficiary: Help is at hand with the support of the provincial government

Lalaine Lucas carries her one-month old child, Leah, after she gave birth to it prematurely on January 14, 2016. (Reu Dawner A. Flores)


By John Michael Mugas
PGIN-CMO

A normal birth delivery on a beautiful day in April was hoped for Leah Kristina Felice Lucas but instead, three months earlier, she gave birth prematurely on January 14, 2016.

She was born weighing only 600 grams, 12 inches long and struggled for a month to be kept alive. Despite the circumstances, Leah is still considered as a miracle from above.

With a month-long battle at the Mariano Marcos Memorial Hospital and Medical Center (MMMHMC) in Batac City, Leah’s mother, Lalaine Lucas, recalled how she and her husband tried to exhaust all ways to be able to pay for the medical bill that kept on rising every day.

Total medical expenses reached as high as PHP74,000 for the four-week hospitalization of Leah which included further observation in the incubator.

Leah is the first child of Lalaine, 26, of Barangay Salet in Laoag City with her partner Christopher Ordonia, 31, of Quezon City; both met in Saudi Arabia working as newly-employed nurse and information technology professional, respectively.

Despite their professions, Lalaine admitted the she did not know where to get the money to pay the hospital bill as she was presently unemployed with her two-year contract in Saudi Arabia already expired.

With this, she went home to the Philippines and had seen the chance to focus on her pregnancy, and as a nurse it came as a complete shock when she prematurely gave birth to Leah.

She said that her child’s situation was definitely a challenging time for her family “but thankfully, a solution came in when the social service workers of the hospital offered us the Point-of-Care Program” which is reinforced by the Provincial Government of Ilocos Norte led by Governor Maria Imelda “Imee” R. Marcos.

Under the program, Lalaine was able to settle the hospital bill with the assistance of the social service workers of MMMHMC, adding that the process did not come quite as hard as she first thought “as long as you can present all the needed requirements.”

The provincial government thus shouldered a portion of the total medical expenses amounting to PHP61,599.35.

Ms. Marcos, who first launched several programs to address the healthcare crisis in Ilocos Norte, had intensified the Point-of-Care Program in the province to aid Ilocanos who are not presently enrolled in any government medical assistance programs.

Kung hindi ka barangay worker, at wala kang kamag-anak na may PhilHealth… may pagkakataong magkaroon ng PhilHealth [card] through the Point-of-Care Program,” she noted during her State of the Province Address in 2015.

Through this, hospital bills and related charges will be automatically charged from the program, said Ms. Marcos.

To date, more than 60,000 dependent-cards have also been distributed by the provincial government, providing financial assistance to poor but deserving Ilocanos thereby making it possible to help them defray the increasing cost of hospitalization.

Meanwhile, the Philippines is currently in the top 10 of countries around the world with the highest record of premature births at 348,900, according to the November 2015 report of World Health Organization.

Lalaine Lucas expresses gratitude to the provincial government for the Point-of-Care program and beams during an interview last February 16, 2016 that her one-month old child is already recovering after she gave birth to Leah prematurely on January 14, 2016. (Reu Dawner A. Flores)
Ilocos Norte, however, has been lauded by the United of States of Agency for International Development Aid (USAID) in 2012 for its effective maternal and newborn health program which seen the decreasing death rate of newborns due to premature births.

After being recently allowed to be sent home, one-month old Leah continues to show signs of improvement by then weighing 800 grams.

Lalaine continues to heed the advice of her child’s doctors by carrying out the “kangaroo mother care,” a practice that encourages skin-to-skin contact between the mother and the baby.

Today, Lalaine finds a renewed that her daughter will get through her current situation and encourages every Ilocano to not be afraid to seek the help of the provincial government.

“I’d like to express how grateful I am with the support given by Governor Marcos. Help is at hand with the provincial government and I hope that more Ilocanos will be reached and helped by their different health programs,” Lalaine said tearfully in Ilocano.

For more information regarding the Point-of-Care program, you may contact the Provincial Health Office at mobile no. 0915 916 7113.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Empanada festival: A celebration of good taste and good life

By Dominic B. dela Cruz & Leilanie G. Adriano Staff reporters BATAC CITY—If there is one thing Batac is truly proud of, it would be its famous empanada-making business that has nurtured its people over the years. Embracing a century-old culture and culinary tradition, Batac’s empanada claims to be the best and tastiest in the country with its distinctive Ilokano taste courtesy of its local ingredients: fresh grated papaya, mongo, chopped longganisa, and egg. The crispy orange wrapper and is made of rice flour that is deep-fried. The celebration of this city’s famous traditional fast food attracting locals and tourists elsewhere comes with the City Charter Day of Batac every 23 rd  of June. Every year, the City Government of Batac led by Mayor Jeffrey Jubal Nalupta commemorate the city’s charter day celebration to further promote its famous One-Town, One Product, the Batac empanada. Empanada City The Batac empanada festival has already become an annua

PIDS expert says income tax cuts justified; warns gov’t of revenue loss

Proposals to amend the personal income tax schedule appear to be well-justified. However, these proposals should include measures that will allow government to recover the revenue loss from lower income taxes. Dr. Rosario Manasan, senior research fellow of state think-tank Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS), said at a seminar sponsored by the Philippine Senate, that government should look for new revenue measures to compensate for the projected revenue loss that will arise as a result of the implementation of any of the various proposals to restructure the personal income tax. Currently, there are several income tax reform proposals pending in both houses of Congress. All of them, according to Dr. Manasan, have the same objective of addressing the phenomenon of bracket creep, which results from “non-indexation to inflation of personal income tax brackets”. Simply put, bracket creep occurs when employees’ income increases over time as a result of inflation. Th

PGIN honors Ilocano heroes of past, present through Heroes Walk

SPO1 Allan Lampitoc Franco of Banna, Ilocos Norte and PO2 Jovalyn D. Lozano of Adams, Ilocos Norte receive a resolution of commendation, a certificate of college scholarship grant to their family members and a P20,000 cash incentive each from the Provincial Government of Ilocos Norte represented by Governor Imee R. Marcos and Vice Governor Angelo M. Barba in recognition of their bravery and heroic acts in the Mamasapano clash in Maguindanao on January 25. Mr. Franco and Mr. Lozano were recognized on March 10 in time for the unveiling of the second batch of Ilocano heroes at the Heroes Walk located along the Sirib Mile in Laoag City.  (Lei Adriano) By Jennifer T. Pambid PGIN-CMO In honor of the heroes who brought freedom, fame and glory to the province as well as to the country in the past century, the Provincial Government of Ilocos Norte (PGIN) through the Education Department and Sirib Youth Office launched the second batch of Ilocano Heroes Walk on March 10, 2015.