More COVID labs soon in Region 6

By Emme Rose Santiagudo

Another hospital in Western Visayas has been accredited to detect coronavirus disease (COVID-19), boosting the testing capacity of the region.

The Department of Health-Center for Health Development (DOH-CHD) 6 confirmed on Tuesday that Teresita Lopez Jalandoni Provincial Hospital (TLJPH) in Silay City, Negros Occidental has been accredited by the Department of Health (DOH) and Research Institute of Tropical Medicine (RITM) as additional sub-national laboratory in the region.

According to Dr. Jessie Glenn Alonsabe, DOH-CHD 6 regional epidemiologist, TLJPH is just waiting for the logistics before it can start their operations as an additional COVID-19 testing laboratory.

“Nacertify na sila sang RITM and DOH, they can start their operations anytime but ginahulat pa nila ang mga logistics so they can already operate once the logistics are in,” he said in an online press briefing on Tuesday.

TLJPH will be the second sub national laboratory in Western Visayas and the first testing laboratory outside Panay.

It will augment the Western Visayas Medical Center Sub National Laboratory (WVMC-SNL) in Mandurriao, Iloilo City which was first accredited by the health department.

From March 23 to May 8, 2020, the WVMC-SNL has run a total of 6,002 tests, equivalent to 5,288 persons tested for COVID-19.

The laboratory has been aiming to conduct 1,000 tests per day.

The health department said two more hospitals in the region are on the third stage of the accreditation – West Visayas State University Medical Center (WVSUMC) in Iloilo City and Bacolod Queen of Mercy Hospital and Corazon Lacson Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital both in Bacolod City.

Third stage indicates the training of laboratory personnel. It will be followed by Stage 4 or proficiency testing with the help of RITM.

The final stage or Stage 5 signifies that a laboratory is now on scale implementation.

“Once all five positive samples have been confirmed by RITM as correct, the laboratory will be certified and allowed to process and test samples at full scale,” the health department said in previous statements.

The Iloilo City government has also expressed its intent to put up its own COVID-19 testing laboratory with dorms for laboratory personnel in Molo district.

Mayor Jerry Treñas has previously said that they are targeting to start the procurement for the materials for the construction of the laboratory by June.

The Medical City in Iloilo City; Metro Iloilo Hospital in Iloilo City; Qualimed Hospital in Iloilo City; Doctor’s Hospital in Bacolod City, Roxas Memorial Provincial Hospital in Capiz, and Dr. Rafael Tambukon Memorial Hospital in Aklan have also applied for COVID-19 testing accreditation.