By Rey Anthony Chiu/PIA-Bohol | 08:09 PM November 8, 2019
Governor Celestino Gallares Memorial Hospital (GCGMH) inches its way to be true to its mantra, when it opened its new hospital blood bank, to serve more Boholanos, in fitting ecumenical services November 7.
A blood bank is a facility where blood gathered from blood donation is stored and preserved for later use in blood transfusion. Aside from storage, a blood bank also performs proper testing to reduce the risk of transfusion related adverse events, and the systematic separation of blood components for specific blood transfusion needs of patients.
Rev. Fr. Abelardo Omping, PACEM and GCGMH in-house preacher Pastor Felix Bernaldez joined forces during the blessing and launching of the new blood bank which is or spacious, better equipped and more modern blood collection and storage center inside Bohol’s lead blood service facility.
Now adopting a brand of service in its mantra “so kind, so Gallares,” the only tertiary public hospital which used to be limping with allegations of inefficiency, mismanagement and lousy care has now picked up pace to claim its rightful place in its promise to provide the highest standards of hospital service to its constituents.
Hospital Chief Dr. Mutya Kismet Macuno congratulated the hospital’s pathology department headed by Dr. Anette Salillas for the momentous and grandiose milestone with exponential effects to their patients.
“This means another [opportunity to] manifest our commitment to help patients in need,” the hospital director said.
Meanwhile, Dr Salillas stressed that the new development only shows how Gallares is committed to provide the highest standards of care.
“The bigger and more improved blood bank marks another milestone in GCGMH promise of service to the Boholano people,” she said.
“Small, the steps maybe, but by these, we get closer to where we want. With every step, we can travel farther,” she pointed out.
Dr. Macuno then recalled how Gallares was hunched with issues of unavailability of blood and the request process if there are, fells like going past seven hills. Macuno, who runs trails, said she knows how tough it can get past one hill.
When we were faced with the challenge, we rise up to the occasion, faced the challenge and struggled to win over the challenge, Macuno describes her general stint at the hospital.
She recalled that it was once Dr Juanita Arcay, the pathology department head then, who conceptualized the blood bank and achieved the status as one of the most sought after residency training hubs.
Now equipped too with a modern apheresis machine, the blood center now has a capacity to receive blood from a patient or donor and separate it into its various blood components: plasma, platelets, white blood cells and red blood cells.
Or the machine can only take the needed blood component, and return the other components to the body.
The new blood bank, with its two standing refrigerators, can accommodate about 400 blood units a day, and the apheresis machine even expands the blood bank’s string capacity as it can already extract platelets via the machine which needs no refrigeration anymore.
Cancer and dengue patients specifically need huge storage of blood units which often congests their refrigerators, according to Blood Bank nurse Nickson Felix Epe.
