When this happens, patients with common ailments could go to the city hall-owned JR Borja Memorial City Hospital or private hospitals.

In a news conference, NMMC chief of hospital Jose Chan said the government hospital would [...]]]> The Northern Mindanao Medical Center (NMMC) would soon be turned a state-owned hospital that would specialize in specific ailments, officials said.

When this happens, patients with common ailments could go to the city hall-owned JR Borja Memorial City Hospital or private hospitals.

In a news conference, NMMC chief of hospital Jose Chan said the government hospital would focus on cardiology and renal cases in the future.

The NMMC is a beneficiary of The Netherlands’ grant amounting to P130 million. The fund would be used to buy a cardiac catheterization unit.

Cardiac catheterization is a groundbreaking procedure involving the insertion of a catheter into the heart via the neck. It is mainly used to detect complex heart ailments.

Once realized, the NMMC cardiac catheterization unit would be the first of its kind outside Metro Manila, said Chan.

Chan said P110 million of the budget would be used to purchase the equipment while the remainder would be for the construction of a room for the equipment.

Chan said he is confident that doctors at NMMC are prepared for the cardiac catheterization unit.
“We train specialists, doctors in general practice and nurses here,” Chan said.

Meanwhile, a renal transplant unit would also be set up at NMMC in 2010.

With NMMC now becoming a specialty hospital, Chan said that patients experiencing common ailments such as coughs and colds would most likely be accomodated only at JR Borja Memorial City Hospital.