Piat is a 4th class municipality in the province of Cagayan

with 18 barangays and approximately 25,400 population.

As per the Cities and Municipalities Competitive Index
(CMCI), it ranks 205th in the list. A salient factor that is
considered here is the health care system of the town.
Two indicators utilized here are health capacity of health
services and health care infrastructures. This now begs the
question how effective and efficient is the health system
in Piat, hence this appraisal.
In a small town such as Piat, health is less than of an
issue. Generally, the health system here is well-
organized. Or so we thought.
This essay corroborates claims with data as to how well a
certain municipality's health system function vis-à-vis the
health system building blocks. These include service
delivery, health workforce, health information system,
access to essential medicines, financing, and
leadership/governance. These will be used to respond to
the foregoing question.
First off, service delivery. Nuestra Señora De Piat
Hospital is the district hospital catering to the health care
needs of Piateños and residents of neighboring
municipalities. It also has a newly- constructed municipal
clinic at its Centro of the town. In the pursuit for a more
accessible health service, Piat has heath stations in every
barangay where a given day in a week is intended for all
health services. This is an opportunity to reach out
especially to the far- flung areas. There are 5 clustered
accredited birthing center under health enhancing
program. This partakes a significant role especially that
some barangays are far from Centro, Piat where the
Birthing Center is located.
It is noteworthy that two-way referral system is highly
observed which guarantees efficient, cost-effective,
optimal and quality care for the patient.
While the municipality fares well in health infrastructures,
it is unfortunate to state that it is at 374th spot with 0.0486
score in terms of capacity of health services. This implies
that there are a lot of things to be done on the end of the
government in strengthening the healthcare system.
Second, health workforce. Piat's healthcare system has a
strong workforce with 1 Municipal Health Officer, 1
DTTB, 1 Dentist, 2 Public Health Nurse, 5 Midwives who
are BEMOC-trained and with Level 2 FP-CBT, 3 RSI, 2
Medical Technologists, 10 NDP, and 1 PHA. These
numbers suffice the requirements of RA 1891 (section 2)
which amended RA 1082, providing the number of
healthcare providers considering the number of
population of a place.
Third, health information system. With the advent of
social media, the health care facilities have their own
Facebook page for health information and schedules of
activities like immunization and covid vaccination,
current COVID-19 statistics. Of course, traditional means
are not neglected. Posters and flyers are also made
ubiquitous. Information drives are also carried out within
the municipality through the help of volunteers.
As to the fourth building block which is on Medical
Products, Vaccines, and Technologies, the municipality
enjoys the availability of the essential medicines,
vaccines, and equipments. More or less five pharmacies
are existing. The District Hospital even has its own
pharmacy. The roll-outs of the different types of vaccines
are also at a good pace because of the effective
communication between the healthcare workers and
patients. Issues only arise with the technologies present
here. In certain cases, due to the lack of other health care
equipment, there is a need for the patients to be
transferred to other hospitals in Tuguegarao.
Next, financing. *Padagdag here, mother*
And on the last building block, leadership/ governance.
The facilities function in accordance to the national health
strategy. The needs and priorities of the country are the
focus of their service. Endemic diseases such as
Tuberculosis, Pneumonia, Malaria, and etc. are treated
here accordingly. In the wake of the unprecedented
COVID-19, a comprehensive plan is used to combat the
municipality from the virus. However, in spite of the
plans which are aligned with that of the IATF, Piat still
reached more than 100 cases of the virus which prompted
the Local Government Unit (LGU) to implement stricter
measures such as closing its borders to pilgrims. The
district hospital and birthing center offer 24 hour health
emergency response. Free rides are also provided for
dialysis patients. Interlocal health zone is maximized.
Indeed, the question regarding the healthcare system in
Piat, as observed through the lenses of the various
building blocks, insinuates that a lot of aspects have to be
considered. On top of this, a good relationship between
and among the government, physicians, and patients are
required for a community's health care to thrive. After all,
a community with an organized healthcare system yields
healthy citizens.