Bacolod adopts central hospital command

By Dolly Yasa

 

BACOLOD City – The “One Hospital Command Center (OHCC)” – one of the best practices of Cebu City when it was trying to curb the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 or COVID-19 – has been adopted by the Bacolod City government.

A press statement from the Public Information Office of Bacolod City said Thursday that the operation of the OHCC was among the major subjects discussed during the meeting of Mayor Evelio Leonardia and City Administrator Em Ang with the medical directors of Bacolod hospitals Wednesday.

This is a centralized hospital command center for better management and use of information from Bacolod hospitals on COVID-19 cases, the press statement said.

The OHCC includes a call center manned by agents for tele-consultation and education.

The press statement further said that teams under this center are also deployed to coordinate hospital admissions and out-of-town hospital transfers as well as manage medical transport and data analytics.

The meeting was attended by Major General Mel Feliciano, NIATF-Visayas chief implementer, who briefed the medical directors of the features of the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) where the hospitals’ cooperation is needed.

Feliciano pointed out that he expects a “healthy curve” in the COVID-19 pattern in the city and that means the numbers could still rise before it goes down.

Leonardia relayed that he already requested National Task Force (NTF) Against COVID-19 chief implementer Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. to send additional nurses as augmentation personnel to the city.

Leonardia said he is “quite positive” that Bacolod will be “given priority” vis-à-vis its current COVID-19 situation and the recent passage of the Bayanihan 2 Act.

The mayor tasked City Administrator Em Ang, who is also the EOC executive director, to formalize the request through a letter so that it can be sent and acted upon the soonest time possible.

Ang said the chances are high that Leonardia’s request for additional nurses will be granted, given that Major General Feliciano also promised to endorse this request.

“Let’s shoot for the stars but let’s also be realistic. It may not probably be 100%. But what’s important is, we have already established how many nurses we need,” Leonardia said after the hospital directors submitted their requests.

Meanwhile, the Sangguniang Panlungsod recently passed an ordinance creating the “Bacolod Healthcare Coordination Committee for COVID-19 Patients.”

The creation of this new committee aims to facilitate the transmission of critical and medical information from Bacolod hospitals to the EOC, based at the MassKara Hall of the Bacolod City Government Center, on a daily basis. The data transmitted will be used in planning, monitoring, and resource allocation.

The committee will function as a coordinating body for hospital cooperation in sharing of best practices; as a forum for discussion of issues; and as a source of information for City officials to be able to formulate policies and programs to address healthcare needs of the Bacolodnons.

In relation to Bacolod’s enhanced data synchronization and management, EOC deputy for medical Dr. Hector Gayares requested the medical directors to assign one hospital data officer who will provide relevant hospital data to the command system.

“It is very important [to maintain] the integrity of data, meaning to say, the timeliness, the accurateness, and all those other things. [We can do this] if there’s a point person, a data officer we can call every now and so often…The numbers are there but we also need the story behind the numbers so we can put it in the analysis,” Gayares said.

The medical directors who attended the meeting were Dr. John Alejano of Bacolod Queen of Mercy Hospital, Dr. Ma. Antonia Gensoli of Riverside Medical Center, Dr. Rafael Jocson of The Doctor’s Hospital, Dr. Galileo Pabalinas of Bacolod Adventist Medical Center, and Dr. Rodolfo Nonato of South Bacolod General Hospital. (With a report from Bacolod City PIO)