A molecular diagnostic laboratory for coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) testing was inaugurated in this city’s West Visayas State University Medical Center (WVSUMC) on Tuesday.
In his message, OIC medical center chief Dr. Dave Endel Gelito III said the global pandemic caught everyone unprepared and even rocked the foundations of the medical profession as manifested in how Covid-19 cases are being handled.
“The university medical center silently worked to fill in the gap in health care deliveries and gave in to the call to take care and save lives of the people of Iloilo City, of the province and the nearby provinces,” he said.
He added that they made infrastructure and procedural adjustments to respond to the infection.
The construction of the laboratory was prioritized while the purchase of “much-needed equipment intended to improve the service delivery of specific medical requirements” was foregone.
“This molecular laboratory will enable the university medical center to provide efficient and effective RT-PCR (reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction) testing that will benefit not only the in-patients of the WVSUMC but also residents of Iloilo City, the province of Iloilo and the surrounding provinces,” he said.
The laboratory, he added, will help decongest other testing laboratories and paved the way to faster release of reliable results, which would translate to early diagnosis and treatment.
“Early diagnosis is vital in preventing the spread of the infection and early management would spell the difference in the disease outcome,” he said.
Dr. Joselito Villaruz, president of the WVSU, said the molecular laboratory is a manifestation of the “university’s commitment to deliver quality health care to Ilonggos and the rest of Region 6″.
“Considered as an advance tertiary training center, this molecular laboratory was established not only as a response to the pandemic but also as an opportunity to advance molecular studies by our clinical researchers,” he added.
The laboratory will start operations next week with an initial capacity of 150 specimens. (PNA)
