A lot near the Dingras District Hospital in Dingras, Ilocos Norte will soon be the regional kidney center and transplant specialty center in Northern Luzon as part of the Department of Health’s effort to establish a legacy in healthcare in Luzon.

Dr. Jose Orosa III, chief of the medical professional staff of the Mariano Marcos Memorial Hospital and Medical Center, confirmed this in a media interview on Monday, noting that an agreement with the Dingras local government is being finalized for the use of a less than one hectare government lot and for construction to within this year.

“We have an ongoing negotiation with Dingras mayor Jeofrey Saguid and they are willing to usufruct us for 50 years almost one-hectare lot. This is where we are going to put 100 hemodialysis units and a hospital in the middle of the town of Dingras to serve nearby towns of Solsona, Marcos, Nueva Era, Kalinga, and Apayao,” he said.

Orosa said the PHP1.34 billion proposed eight-story, 100-bed capacity kidney center will also be capacitated to perform kidney transplant and kidney donation once it becomes operational.

With the increasing cases of kidney diseases in almost all parts of the country, Orosa said the project will not only benefit Ilocos Norte residents and neighboring provinces but also the training of other healthcare professionals to advance their knowledge and skills and become specialists too.

Latest data obtained from the National Kidney and Transplant Institute (NKTI) reveals that about one Filipino develops chronic renal failure every hour, translating to roughly 120 Filipinos per million population annually.

As this developed, Saguid expressed excitement for the planned kidney center in Dingras.

“This will help a lot of people who need an accessible dialysis hospital while enabling our town to become the center of growth and development in the easter part of Ilocos Norte,” he said. (PNA)