SM ramps up support for San Pablo City in fight against COVID-19
(L-R) SM SAVP for Mall Operation South Regions Engr. John Jason Terrenal, San Pablo City General Hospital Chief of Clinics Dr. Lucy Celino, and San Pablo COVID Task Force Assistant City Health Officer Dr. Mercydina Caponpon at the turnover of medical supplies from SM Foundation to San Pablo City General Hospital during the City’s Inoculation session at the mall.
SM Foundation (SMFI), the corporate social responsibility arm of the SM Group of Companies, remains committed to reaching more COVID-19 frontliners by providing them with much-needed medical supplies.
In its recent social good effort mobilization on the ground, SMFI turned over boxes of face masks and other personal protective equipment (PPE) to San Pablo City General Hospital (SPCGH), which was represented by SPCGH Chief of Clinics Dr. Lucy Celino. This marked the third batch of medical supplies donations to the said hospital.
SAVP for Mall Operations South Regions, Engr. John Jason Terrenal, said, “SM is here to serve, help, and support Filipino communities and the medical front liners. We are thankful and salute all those who are tirelessly working with us during this time of crisis.”
Dr. Celino expressed her gratitude to SM, “Words cannot describe how truly grateful they are to SM for keeping front liners protected during this unprecedented times.”
All out support for its host communities
Aside from extending support for the frontliners, SM, through its malls all over the country, also provides a convenient, safe, and accessible venues for the community to be vaccinated. Through this social good effort, SM enables the local government units (LGUs) to maximize the number of people that can be inoculated per day. This set up where in a large portion of the most vulnerable people can be inoculated helps a community achieve herd immunity.
To ensure the safety of the community while at the SM COVID-19 vaccination hub, SM practices round the clock sanitation in areas with heavy contact and deployed safety protocol officers to reinforce the mall’s safety measures as a way to reduce the transmission of the virus.
A City Health Officer monitors the temperature of individuals (A2 and A3) as they patiently wait for their turn for their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine at the SM City San Pablo’s cinema area.
In San Pablo City, around 500 senior citizens and adults with controlled comorbidities were already inoculated as the SM City San Pablo repurposed its cinema hallway to a vaccination area, following the standards set by the Department of Health (DOH) and City Health Office.
A senior citizen from San Pablo City receives his first dose of COVID-19 vaccine at the SM City San Pablo’s cinema area.
"Prioritization has benefits because people differ in at least two key ways -- their risk of infection and the likelihood of serious consequences from infection. We are thankful to SM for making it easy for our elderlies to get here,” San Pablo COVID-19 Task force Assistant City Health Officer Dr. Mercydina Caponpon said.
It can be recalled that last year, SM, through SM Foundation, constructed seven (7) insulated emergency quarantine facilities (EQFs) in Pasay and Quezon City to house and treat patients affected by (COVID-19). In addition to the said EQFs, SM also established a COVID-19 mega swabbing facility at the Mall of Asia Complex, in cooperation with the DOH, Philippine Red Cross, the National Action Plan Against COVID-19, Philippine National Police Medical Corps, and other private sector partners.
To date, SM has donated over Php 300 million in essential medical supplies, equipment, rt-PCR testing, and assistance to other national efforts in the fight against COVID-19.
