THE Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology of Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital marked its 21st anniversary Thursday, August 1, with a celebration held at West Tower Pantry of the Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital (CLMMRH).
Dr. Teodorico Pacaldo, Chairman of the Orthopaedics and Traumatology Department of CLMMRH said they have relaunched the department initiatives and activities as well as introduce new ones. These include the Wound Care & Diabetic Foot Clinic to Ankle & Foot and Wound Care Clinic with the presentation of Wound Care activities, updates on Clubfoot clinic experience and future plans on Cerebral Palsy Clinic.
He said the department was established on August 1, 1998.
“We were there and we started with two resident trainees and three consultants and we just set up the Department of Orthopedics separate from Surgery department,” he said.
“Before it was just a section. So we started with a ward and we got all the trauma cases involving the spine, pelvis and upper and lower extremities like legs and hands. And now, we have 12 resident trainees and eleven consultants. Our consultants are all Board certified who are fellows of the Philippine Orthopedic Association. They came from all over the Philippines - four coming from Manila, one from Cebu and some from Negros Oriental and from the University of St. La Salle, Bacolod City,” he added.
Every year, the department always has something new to present for its anniversary and this year they presented their accomplishments and vision for the future.
They invited hospital and elected officials who can help their department pursue their dreams especially in the training of future Orthopedic surgeons.
“We have been running the first wound care clinic here in Negros Island and in Western Visayas and started with their available supplies,” Pacaldo said.
They also have their Club Foot Clinic which is an initiative in cooperation with a non-governmental organization called Miracle Feet which has been going for the past one year now.
“We have 71 patients who have already benefited from the service. We are also starting a cerebral palsy clinic and hopefully we could also start our arthroscopy clinic. This is over and above our usual Orthopedic cases which is 90 percent trauma cases from the accidents such as motorcycle and vehicular accidents,” he said.
“This is especially not only to give service to our fellow Negrosanons but also to train in the future Orthopedic surgeons not only in trauma but all aspects of Orthopedics,” he added.
Trauma cases constitute 80 to 90 percent of their patients in the ward and a lot of them are motorcycle accidents.
Pacaldo made an appeal to local officials, “This message is for our officials as we can only do so much. We can only treat. But prevention is the cure and the best prevention will be coming from our legislation and law enforcements. We are just reactors in the situation. So we cannot remain forever as a reactor or in the reaction stage because of our limited resources.”
As to the personnel, at the moment, they are coping up. They wish however to have more personnel from their nursing services because they have a drain in their nursing personnel and at the same time, they have few positions for them.
As for the physicians, they are still continuing with their good selection and they are trying to expand where they can select better quality trainees. “We also look at the capability of the hospital and also the capacity of our hospital which is right now about 400 to 450 bed capacity since 25 years ago,” he said.
“I hope that we can have a 1,000 bed capacity hospital before we will be needing a 1,500 bed capacity hospital. We need it because our services are really reaching that number not only for the Orthopedics but for the whole hospital,” he added.
On Club Foot
They have relaunched it as they want to show to the people their accomplishments.
Their club foot patients include children and teenagers. They are glad that they come to be treated. The estimated cases include one out of 800 live births.
In Negros Occidental, there were 160 new cases per year. Some were not really that bad and some were taken for granted.
The cause of club foot is idiopathic or unknown or well established.
There were cases such as syndromal from muscle imbalance as in cerebral palsy or some other developmental problems.
There is one in every 500 children who has cerebral palsy.
Meanwhile, the celebration was graced by Dr. Julius Drilon, medical center chief II, Dr. Jorge Marlon Tabligan, chief of medical professional staff, Bacolod City councilors Cindy Tan Rojas and Israel Salanga and board members Araceli Somosa and Agustin Ernesto Bascon, doctors, nurses, other medical practitioners, and guests.