ILOILO City – The Department of Health (DOH) in Western Visayas will be operating a clinic at a mall in this city. It would be the first mall-based government clinic in the country.
The clinic will provide preventive and promotive health care. The launching is on May 28.
The facility – to be located at a mall on Ledesma-Mabini Street, City Proper – aims to serve the unmet health needs of Ilonggos by improving access to health services, said Joseph Carlo Carillo, DOH Region 6 nurse V.
“This is part of the commitment of DOH to ensure access and availability of our services. Our clients are provided these services at the most convenient time for them,” he said.
Dubbed as “kNOwTell”, the clinic aims to ensure that the reach of health information is expanded through health information sharing or “what you KNOW you TELL”, while keeping private information confidential or “No Tell”.
“However, it will not bear the word ‘clinic’ to remove the barrier to health access,” Carillo said, adding that “a person does not need to be sick” to access and avail services of a health facility.
He said that “kNOwTell” is a venue for health education and counseling in order to be healthy and to stay healthy.
The mall-based health facility will be open from Monday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. and weekends from 9 a.m. and 10 p.m.
Services that will be offered include pregnancy testing; pre-natal check-up (to include physical check-up vitamins and pregnancy counseling); Family Planning (FP) services (short or long acting FP commodities); and HIV screening, counseling, and testing.
Likewise, clients can also avail psycho-social risk assessment, counseling (to include psychometrician services and referral); “Brief Advise” 5 (counseling on tobacco, alcohol, and drugs); and screening, counseling, and referral for chest X-ray.
According to Carillo, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays will be considered “Teen Days” as there will be special services and workshops that will be conducted targeting this particular age group.
The facility will be situated in the third floor of the mall. (PIA-Iloilo/PN)
