• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Admitting that the Capitol’s One Hospital Command (OHC) is not a perfect system, Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson said Monday (May 19) it only needs some “refinements” amid criticisms from some former politicians.
The OHC facilitates medical transport and patient pick-up arrangements, provides health system capacity, data analytics, risk communications, and optimizes the use of critical care services of every hospital in Negros Occidental.
Under the OHC system concept, Lacson said a patient has to pass a triage system before being sent to a hospital.
A triage system is a method of sorting and prioritizing patients based on the severity of their condition, especially in situations where resources are limited, like in emergency rooms or mass casualty events.
It helps determine which patients need immediate attention, which can wait, and which require less urgent care, and ensures that limited resources are allocated effectively to maximize the number of patients who can be helped.
There were complaints that patients have to seek permission from rural health units for transport and admission to government hospitals.
Lacson said there were many instances before where patients were directly brought to government hospitals, but have to wait in the alley, or other areas since they cannot be accommodated.
OHC’s goal is to assess a patient in need of admission at the level of the local government unit, which is provided access to the system.
By encoding patient details in the online referral form, it would now be easier to determine which hospital could best attend to a particular case.
Lacson said he strongly believes that the OHC system is good.
“It’s not a perfect system, but it is an evolving system that we will constantly improve. We just have to do some refinements,” the governor said.
It is better to see that the hospital that will receive the patient is actually expecting and ready to take care of the patient, rather than being sent to the hospital, not knowing the case of the patient, Lacson said.
Meanwhile, in behalf of the provincial government, Lacson yesterday signed a memorandum of agreement formalizing its partnership with Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital, represented by its hospital chief, Dr. Joan Cerrada, witnessed by Dr. Razel Nikka Hao, DOH regional director for Negros Island Region, and Provincial Health Officer Dr. Girlie Pinongan.
The MOA of Telemedicine Services refers to the practice of medicine by means of electronic telecommunication technologies such as phone call, chat or short messaging system, audio and video conferencing to deliver healthcare at a distance between a patient at an originating site, and a physician at a distance site. | GB
