A new facility housing the largest dialysis and kidney transplant center in Mindanao is set to open here on Nov. 28, a nephrologist said on Monday.

Dr. Ma. Theresa Bad-ang, a nephrologist and head of the Southern Philippines Medical Center–Human Advocate and Retrieval Effort (SPMC-SHARE), said the SPMC Kidney and Transplant Institute (SKTI) is a four-story building with a 62-bed capacity, four operating rooms, and a 100-bed dialysis center.

The facility also includes charity wards, private rooms, and suites, and is home to Mindanao’s first immunology laboratory.

“We no longer need to send specimens to Manila for tissue typing. We’ll have the capability here,” Bad-ang said in an interview with the Philippine News Agency.

Located beside SPMC’s heart center, the SKTI will offer various kidney care packages accessible to patients. It is also designated as the advanced care center for kidney health in Mindanao under the Universal Health Care program.

Bad-ang said the new facility will help ease the load on SPMC, which currently accommodates around 200 dialysis patients.

She said about 3,000 patients are undergoing dialysis in the region —an increase from 2,400 recorded last year.

The rise, Bad-ang said, is partly due to the availability of free packages that cover dialysis costs.

“It’s not necessarily good news because it shows complications are rising. We need to focus more on prevention,” she said.

Bad-ang also highlighted that family consent remains the biggest challenge in deceased organ donation.

She called for a more intensive public information campaign to raise awareness about its importance.

Bad-ang said the refusal of families to allow organ donation from patients with irreversible brain damage also continues to be a setback.

“We will keep intensifying our efforts to educate the public on the value of organ donation,” she added. (PNA)