Negros’ first cancer center inaugurated in Bacolod

BACOLOD CITY -– The first cancer care center in Negros Island was inaugurated Wednesday that will provide more Negrenses access to cancer diagnosis and treatment.

The Metro Pacific Holdings and the Riverside Medical Center inaugurated the first phase of the P300-million Riverside Bacolod Cancer Care Center at the annex of the Riverside Hospital here.

Riverside Medical President Genesis Golingan said the center is a dream come true.

“Cancer knows no boundaries and does not discriminate. The battle is not fair and never has been. This is one important service that we need for Negros... a dream that becomes a reality,” Golingan said in his speech.

Also at the inauguration were Mayor Evelio Leonardia and Asian Hospital Medical Center President Andres Licaros Sr.

Leonardia said the center is a welcome development for Bacolod, because it is a sign that big players in the health industry like Metro Pacific are coming to the city.

Golingan said when completed, the center will be a four-story complex. Among the services it will offer are screenings for women’s reproductive health, breast cancer, ovarian cancer, lung cancer, colon and rectal cancer, prostate cancer, cervical cancer, and liver cancer.

Riverside Medica’sl Business Development Officer Karl Dimaano said the services to be offered will be less expensive compared to the services at cancer centers like in Manila and Iloilo.

The facility will accept patients beginning in mid-January of 2019, Dimaano said. (Mark L. Garcia)