The Philippines' First Rehydration Center Soon to Rise in Angeles City

April 19, 2022 -- Congressman Carmelo Jon-Jon Lazatin II and Rafael Angeles, Executive Assistant V, representing Mayor Carmelo "Pogi" Lazatin Jr, held the Ground Breaking Ceremony of The Ben Tan Foundation Rehydration Center and Charity Clinics.

The Ben Tan Foundation, in partnership with the Rotary Club of Clark Centennial (RCCC) and Rotaract Club of Clark, has come up with a project that aimed to offer additional free health services for indigent citizens of Angeles City. The project is a 2-level Rehydration Center with Charity Clinics to be constructed just adjacent to the city hospital, Rafael Lazatin Memorial Medical Center (RLMMC). The center will have a rehydration center, medical clinics, dental clinic, laboratory, and pharmacy that will cater to charity patients in the community.

At present, the partner organizations have made a memorandum of agreement with the RLMMC to handle the mild to moderately dehydrated patients that can use up most of the resources of the City Hospital. Based on the study conducted by the RCCC, the majority of the patients being handled by the local hospital are mostly requiring intravenous (IV) hydration, which, if not given, can lead to death. And so, the Rehydration Center Project was conceptualized to address this immediate humanitarian need, and to likewise, decongest the RLMMC.

Mayor Carmelo "Pogi" Lazatin Jr had been a strong supporter of the socio-civic projects of the RCCC as he had been a member of the said club even before entering public service. The project is a welcome addition to the services that the citizens of Angeles City, and of nearby municipalities, can avail.

The Ground Breaking Ceremony was also attended by Dr. Erwin Brian Tan (President of the Rotary Club of Clark Centennial), Dr. Froilan Canlas (Medical Director of RLMMC), Dr. Jean Caroline Tan (Club Secretary of RCCC), Derek Hewitt (Past President of RCCC and Project Director), Alan Varley (Past President and Treasurer of RCCC), Beda Quiambao Jr (Secretary-General of Patrol Partylist), Dr. Jenneth Sarmiento (Chief of Staff of Congressman Lazatin), Ysabelle Tolentino (President of Rotaract Club of Clark), representative of Don Pepe Henson Enterprises, Rotarian members of RCCC and Rotaractors.