BY CHRYSEE G. SAMILLANO
The first state-of-the-art hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) center in Negros and Western Visayas officially opened in Bacolod City Saturday.
The Advanced Hyperbaric Healthcare Center at the corner of Narra Avenue and C.L. Montelibano Drive, has a computerized multi-chamber with multiple seats where patients can comfortably sit and inhale therapeutic oxygen through a mask while watching television. Its chambers were engineered and built in Germany.
HBOT is a non-invasive, well established medical treatment that enhances the body’s natural healing process and strengthens the immune system by using prescribed high-pressure oxygen, thereby treating a variety of health conditions and diseases.
Jesus Co, one of the owners, said he and his partners believe that the HBOT will greatly contribute to the health and well being of their fellow Negrenses and the people of Panay Island. The facility will gain wider acceptance in the months and years to come once medical doctors’ and patients’ awareness increases, he stressed.
Co also said the air-conditioned healthcare is also equipped with a state-of-the-art air purification system that cleanses the stale air inside the building and rids it of bacteria, viruses, molds, and other pathogens throughout the day.
HBOT will enhance and promote Bacolod City’s medical and tourism program. It is no longer the best kept secret in medicine, he said.
The technology creates happy hormones and reverses the aging of the brain, he added.
Dr. Philton Yu said they want the facility to cater not only to the sick but also become a wellness and anti-aging center.
They also want to be a center for training and education for excellence that is able to respond to certain emergency cases in Bacolod, Cebu and Iloilo cities, Yu said.
City Administrator Em Ang extended the greetings of Mayor Evelio Leonardia to Co, Jonathan Manuel Lo and other partners of the facility, for the brand new project in the city, that will open up medical tourism for Bacolod.
Amidst the backdrop of COVID pandemic, never before has health and wellness been highlighted. And the opening of the Advanced Hyperbaric Healthcare Center in the city is another project of Lo that will provide another place for Bacolodnons and Negrenses to be able to get a feast for oxygen, health and wellness. This will also create jobs especially now that jobs are scarce, she said.
Ang lauded Lo and his partners for coming up with this new business despite the present situation. However, she said she believes this is very good timing because health has become more precious and important for everyone these days.
HBOT has been the long-kept secret of many popular athletes for strength and endurance, as well as conditioning before a game event, and muscle recovery after an event, and in the healing of injuries, a press release from the company said.
For geriatric care, oxygen therapy has been proven to reverse aging and correct or mitigate some pre-existing conditions, it said.
Babies and young children with genetic anomalies have also benefitted from hyperbaric treatment, the press release added.
Inhaling 10 percent oxygen under pressure in a hyperbaric chamber brings so many health benefits, as well as healing, it said.
These health benefits include increased oxygen delivery to injured tissues, greater blood vessel formation, improved healing of wounds, helps in the preservation of damaged tissues and stimulation of new bone formation, stimulates growth factors, reduces swelling, relieves chronic pain, addresses hypoxia, improves memory and cognitive function, decreases risk of infection and is anti-aging. It is also best for cancer care and post chemotherapy care.
The Advanced Hyperbaric Healthcare Center is being manned by a medical team and has an in-house doctor who provides teleconsult prior to treatment.
Patients are required, however, to provide their recent chest X-ray and ECG result before undergoing therapy at the center.
Owned and managed by the Negros Advance Hyperbaric Life-Support, Inc., the center already two other branches in Manila.
For more information about the center and its treatments, one can visit their website atwww.hbotphilippines.com and Facebook page: https://wwwfacebook.com/advancedhyperbaric, or contact its landline number (034) 4458648 or mobile number (0995) 5346582.*
