Project in focus
The Community Health & Development Center (CHDC)
The CHDC aims to improve the health and well-being of the community of Bio-os in Amlan, and to serve as a potential model for other communities. With future partnerships and collaboration from the Local Government Units (LGU) and private and public health partners, an accessible and sustainable CHDC can be replicated to help improve the well-being of other communities in the Philippines.
About the Project
Conceptualized as an extension service for basic community health care, education, and training by St. Paul University Dumaguete (SPUD) and sponsored in part by SPUDAA-NA, the CHDC is a small but comprehensive and unique health service in Bio-os, a small barrio in the town of Amlan, Negros Oriental, Philippines. Amlan is a sea-side community of 30,000 people, most under the age of 21, and suffering from many of the typical health problems in rural Philippines, including high maternal and infant mortality rates, nutritional deficiencies, dengue fever, tuberculosis, inadequate housing, dislocation due to typhoons and natural disasters, and lack of access to basic health services.
SPUD and its community extension services arm, the Paulinian Outreach Foundation, Inc. (SPUD-POFI), administers and manages the CHDC with the SPUD Nursing School. The CHDC Planning Team identified the following objectives:
To establish an integrative health facility that provides basic medical care, health promotion and education programs, herbal training and the use of medicinal plants from a pharma garden onsite.
To provide field training, research, and health services opportunities for SPUD nursing students on integrative medicine related to building healthy and sustainable communities.
To promote partnerships and collaboration with medical health practitioners, health workers and stakeholders,
To promote environmental advocacy and stewardship to the local and surrounding communities, and
To establish a record-keeping system to evaluate health, wellness, and educational improvements among the population served.
Get Involved
Scheduled building completion and opening of clinical services to the community suffered a significant setback from the calamitous force of Typhoon Odette/Rai on December 14 - 20, 2021. In spite of some flooding, CHDC’s concrete building and roof withstood the typhoon, but its front and back awnings were blown away, along with the lid of the new water tank and the adjacent structure scheduled to be renovated into a multi-purpose facility for community health education and training sessions.
Nevertheless, the CHDC is determined to recover and complete the building, open clinical services to the community, and continue its health training sessions. While the CHDC has already done community-wide surveys to obtain relevant data for community health training sessions in collaboration with local governmental agencies, the typhoon devastation meant regrouping and forging ahead with volunteers, and in collaboration with local government units (LGU).
We are asking for support of the CHDC Project on behalf of SPUD/POFI, the community of Bio-os, Amlan, and of nearby communities with so minimal access to healthcare. Donations and contributions thru SPUDAA-NA are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law and are channeled and earmarked 100% to donor-designated projects administered by the SPUD-Paulinian Outreach Foundation (SPUD-POFI).