ONE STOP SHOP. The Lingap Para Sa Bayan, a one stop shop facility to cater to indigent patients was introduced to the public on Friday, July 7. (L-R) City Mayor’s Office Chief of Staff Atty. Raul Nadela Jr., Southern Philippines Medical Center Medical Chief Dr. Leopoldo Vega, and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte Carpio attend the launching of the project at the Southern Philippines Medical Center where patients would no longer have to troop to different government agencies to avail of assistance. (Paulo C. Rizal/davaotoday.com)
DAVAO CITY, Philippines — Indigent patients in the city and nearby provinces will no longer have to go to different government offices when trying to access government health services with the opening of a one stop shop at the Southern Philippines Medical Center here Friday, July 7.
The “Lingap Para sa Bayan” is a facility that caters the processing of services from agencies such as the Department of Social Welfare and Development the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation, and the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office, among others.
Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio led the soft opening and blessing of the office which is temporarily located inside the Lingap para sa Mahirap office outside the regional hospital here.
The mayor said the one-stop shop will make processing of medical assistance easier.
“I created this so that people would not need to run to and fro from other offices. They go to the Lingap para sa Mahirap, then go to the DSWD to access assistance, and then go to the PCSO,” she said.
“We have to look for ways to help the people, make it easy for them to access services, that is the essence of the one stop shop,” the mayor added.
The mayor revealed that the office will be relocated to its proper location after the P20 million-worth building’s construction is finished next year inside the SPMC.
Duterte-Carpio also clarified that the Lingap para sa Bayan is different from the Lingap para sa Mahirap, the latter being the city government’s health services program for indigents of the city and located in a satellite office located in Magallanes street here.
After the construction is finished, however, both programs will be located in the same building.
“Ultimately naga-transition man ta karon, kadugayan ana pag na-centralize na nato tanan ang process, wala nay satellite office, naa na tanan diri sa SPMC (Ultimately, we are in transition. In due time, when we have centralized all the process, there will no longer be a satellite office, everything will be here in the SPMC),” she said. (davaotoday.com)
