To address the medical concerns of dialysis patients who test positive for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the City Government of Valenzuela officially opens the Valenzuela City Emergency Hospital (VCEH) Dialysis Center for COVID-19 Patients today, January 19.

The event also marks the second day of Mayor REX Birthday Serbisyo Activities this year.

As the number of COVID-19 patients in the city began to rise this month, the need to build a dialysis center also became more pressing. In September 2020, the City Government and Premier 101 Healthcare Management, Inc. started planning to convert the orientation and conference hall of VCEH to a dialysis center. Construction officially commenced last October 2020.

The new Dialysis Center, located at the  3^rd floor of VCEH in Barangay Dalandanan, is a joint venture between the City Government of Valenzuela and Premier 101.  This is the fourth local public-private partnership (PPP) between the two. The long-term PPP has so far produced a Dialysis Center, an Eye Center, and an Eye, Nose and Throat (ENT) Center for the medical needs of Valenzuelanos.

“...Since the pandemic started, we realized that a lot of our COVID patients who also undergo dialysis could not find dialysis centers that would take them in because of their COVID-positive status. That is why we decided to open our own dialysis center that will cater exclusively to COVID patients,” Mayor REX shares.

Protocol requires COVID-19 positive patients who belong to high-risk populations, such as those undergoing dialysis, to be referred to hospitals or big COVID facilities for them to receive the proper care they need. Transferring patients to another facility poses a greater health risk as the process of transporting them exposes them to other infections.  

For this particular partnership, Premier 101 shall provide medical services, supplies, and medicine to the COVID-19 patients undergoing dialysis.

The new dialysis facility is set up like a regular dialysis center, except that it observes optimum distancing/spacing following the minimum health protocols for COVID-19. It currently houses PhP 6 million worth of Fresenius 2008K hemodialysis machines and other dialysis equipment.

It is slated to operate as soon as the actual site inspection is finished and the license to operate is finally granted by the Department of Health (DOH). Once fully operational, the Dialysis Center can accommodate nine (9) patients at a time and can serve three (3) batches per day. It will be manned by by medical staff of Premier 101 and VCEH.

Once COVID-19 cases dwindle down and there is no longer a need for a dialysis center exclusively for COVID-19 patients with kidney issues, VCEH Dialysis Center will be turned into a regular dialysis center. This move is expected to augment VCEH Hemodialysis Center’s capacity to serve the growing number of dialysis patients in the city and shorten its waiting list.

Also present during the inauguration and blessing ceremonies were Premier 101 Chief Operating Officer Mr. Philip V. Lim, City Health Officer Dr. Jaime Exconde Jr., and VCEH Head Dr. Ronald Tecson.