• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Two members of the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino (PDP), who are eyeing positions in the May 2025 elections, want to abolish the One Hospital Command System (OHCS) of the Negros Occidental provincial government, saying it was only good during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Under the OHCS, all provincial government-managed hospitals have been ordered to strictly implement the “No Referral, No Admission Policy” to avoid walk-ins and overcrowding at hospital triage and emergency rooms.
Formed as part of the province’s Digitizing Health and Emergency Management initiative, the OHCS serves as the center of communications between referrals from one hospital into another.
Through Digitizing Health and Emergency Management, the provincial government seeks to deliver efficient health services, effectively manage health services, resources and manpower, and operationalize the patient referral system as required by the Universal Health Care Act.
In a press briefing held in Bacolod City on Tuesday (Dec. 3), former Victorias City Mayor Francis Frederick Palanca, who is challenging incumbent Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson in the gubernatorial race, questioned the continuity of the OHCS, which started during the pandemic period.
Palanca claimed that many have died because they cannot be immediately accommodated in government hospitals as they have to wait for referrals from the OHCS to determine which government hospitals can accommodate them.
The OHCS is being managed by the Hospital Operations Department of the province since 2021.
Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson said that the One Hospital Command program simplifies the process of providing Negrenses with rescue and medical interventions in times of emergency.
Expressing his support to the call of Palanca for the abolition of the OHCS, former Hinobaan Mayor Ernesto Estrao, who is vying for the sixth district congressional seat, described the OHCS as “detrimental and chaos to the poor.”
He said that the referral system delays the treatment of patients.
Aside from Palanca and Estrao, Bacoleño lawyer Jesus “JV” Hinlo, a senatorial candidate, is also a member of the PDP. | GB
