The Employees’ Compensation Commission (ECC) has renewed its partnership with Northern Mindanao Medical Center (NMMC) in Cagayan de Oro City and Mercy Community Hospital, Inc. (MCHI) in Iligan City, Lanao del Norte for their physical rehabilitation services this year.

One of the services provided by the ECC’s Katulong at Gabay sa Manggagawang may Kapansanan (KaGabay) Program is free physical therapy for workers who have suffered work-related sickness or accidents that require therapy sessions to improve their physical condition. Thus, ECC began its collaboration with NMMC in 2012 and with MCHI in 2014. Due to Covid pandemic, the hospitals’ Memorandums of Agreement (MOA) expired in 2019, which forced the Rehabilitation Department of the said hospitals to temporarily halt operations.

As operations slowly return to normal, ECC decided to renew its MOA with both hospitals in order to better serve its clients in Northern Mindanao, particularly in Cagayan de Oro City, Iligan City, and the provinces of Misamis Oriental and Lanao del Norte. Thus, workers who suffered from work-related sickness or injury which resulted to disability will be able to receive not only monetary benefits under the EC Program, but also free consultation with a rehabilitation doctor, free physical therapy sessions, and transportation and meal allowance (TMA).

“Working together with these medical institutions will help us better reach our workers in Northern Mindanao who can avail ECC services and will also accomplish our mission which is to promptly provide workers and/or their dependents with adequate benefits, rehabilitation and other related services in the event of work-connected injury, illness, and death,” said ECC OIC-Executive Director Jose Maria Batino.

The KaGabay Program of ECC aims to facilitate the integration of persons with work-related disabilities into the economic mainstream through physical restoration, training for reemployment or self-entrepreneurship and also provide them with equal access to livelihood opportunities and assist them in setting up their own self-managed microenterprises or home-based business.

 

S. Obice – REU10