The provincial government of Dinagat Islands has provided PHP4.14 million in medical assistance to 416 residents admitted to Surigao City hospitals since January this year, underscoring its commitment to health care access for indigent and financially challenged patients.

In a Monday report, the provincial government said patients had been admitted to the Surigao Medical Center (SMC) and the Caraga Regional Hospital (CRH) since the start of this year.

“Of the total number of patients served from January to now, 268 were admitted at the SMC while 148 were in CRH,” the provincial government said.

It said a total of PHP392,493 was extended to beneficiaries admitted at the SMC, and PHP3.74 million at the CRH.

“All bills were charged to the Dinagat Islands’ Medical Assistance for Indigent and Financially Incapacitated Patients or MAIFIP,” the statement further said.

The provincial government currently has a memorandum of agreement with SMC to implement the MAIFIP.

In a statement, Governor Nilo Demerey Jr. said the provincial government aims “to ease the financial burden of families, sparing them from debt and hardship caused by hospital expenses.”

Demerey on Sunday visited the remaining patients at the SMC and CRH to personally check their conditions.

Lone Guy Romano, the father of a four-month-old girl admitted to the Intensive Care Unit at CRH, was among those who thanked the provincial government for providing financial support.

“Thank you, Gov. Demerey and the provincial government for the financial support to Dinagatnon patients,” Romano said in a Facebook post. (PNA)