THE City Government of Bacolod has formed the "One Hospital Command Center (OHCC)” to help curb the spread of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) in the city.
City Administrator Em Ang said the OHCC was formed so that all the hospitals not only in Bacolod City but also outside the city will coordinate to the command center.
She said the operation of the OHCC was among the major subjects discussed during their meeting with Mayor Evelio Leonardia and the medical directors of Bacolod hospitals on Wednesday, September 16, 2020.
The meeting was also attended by Major General Mel Feliciano, NIATF-Visayas chief implementer, who briefed medical directors of the features of the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) where the hospitals’ cooperation is needed. He also expressed satisfaction over the performance and progress of the EOC.
Ang said this is a centralized hospital command center for better management and use of information from Bacolod hospitals on Covid-19 cases.
The OHCC, one of the best practices of Cebu when it was trying to curb the spread of Covid-19, includes a call center manned by agents for teleconsultation and education. 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.
Feliciano said 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.
For his part, Leonardia said he already requested the National Task Force (NTF) Against Covid-19 chief implementer Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. to send additional nurses as augmentation personnel to the city.
He 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.
“Let’s shoot for the stars but let’s also be realistic. It may not probably be 100 percent. But what’s important is, we have already established how many nurses we need,” he added.
The mayor also tasked Ang who will be the EOC executive director to formalize the request through a letter so that it can be sent and acted upon the soonest.
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.
Meanwhile, the City Council already approved an ordinance creating the “Bacolod Healthcare Coordination Committee for Covid-19 Patients.”
The creation of the 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 best practices; a forum for discussion of issues; and a source of information for City officials to be able to formulate policies and programs to address the healthcare needs of 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.