THE Chief of the JR Borja General Hospital recently announced a significant collaboration with the House of Hope Foundation, marking a pivotal step towards transforming its facility in Lumbia into the Cagayan de Oro Center for Mental Health.
During a press briefing at the Cagayan de Oro Press Club’s Meet the Press yesterday, Dr. Ferdinand Miranda revealed that a Memorandum of Agreement was signed in March, last year, formalizing the House of Hope Psychiatric Custodial Facility’s role in fully managing and operating the facility in Lumbia.
According to Dr. Miranda, the envisioned transformation from the House of Hope to the Cagayan de Oro Center for Mental Health is slated to be realized within the current year.
Dr. Miranda highlighted that, presently, the House of Hope facility caters to patients not only from Cagayan de Oro but also from other areas outside the city, as it is considered a mental health facility for Mindanao, including patients from Davao.
“Naay mga pasyente (gikan) outside (sa) Cagayan de Oro tungod kay mental health facility (man) sa Mindanao. Naa’y sa Davao,” Miranda told reporters.
He emphasized that the current services provided to these patients are primarily “custodial,” and the agreement aims to bring about a significant shift in this aspect.
“Hopefully, dili (na) lang sya custodial,” said Miranda.
Once developed into a mental hospital, patients will have access to free medicines, and the facility will be equipped with its own x-rays, laboratories, and round-the-clock medical monitoring by dedicated doctors.
This marks a substantial improvement from the current scenario, where doctors are available for only eight hours, and patients need to be transported to JR Borja General Hospital in case of emergencies.
“Unlike karon, kung mag ubo sila dad-on pa sila (JR Borja General Hospital),” Miranda highlighted.
Before this collaboration, Miranda shared that the facility housed 67 patients with only 11 personnel.
