BAGUIO ONE HOSPITAL COMMAND CENTER, ESTABLISHED
30 April 2021 – The City Government has established a Baguio One Hospital Command Center (BOHCC) to complement the Cordillera OHCC.
It is composed of the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CDRRMO) Operation Center, Baguio City Emergency Medical Services (BCEMS), operation centers of hospitals and city health services office focal persons for epidemiology and surveillance.
Also included are temporary treatment and management facilities, barangay district health centers and City Mayor’s Information Technology Division (MITD) for real-time data support.
This was revealed by CDRRMO Officer-in-Charge Antonette Anaban during the CDRRM Council’s
2nd quarter meeting, April 23, led by Engr. Puzon, Secretary to the Mayor and CDRRMC Action Officer.
Mayor Benjamin Magalong is CDRRMC Chairperson.
She said the national OHCC is a healthcare referral network linked with service providers like
hospitals, quarantine facilities, and medical logistics support spearheaded by Department of Health
(DOH).
In October of 2020, the OHCC was cascaded to the regions led by DOH regional offices. The Cordillera OHCC caters to the provinces of Abra, Apayao, Benguet, Ifugao, Mountain Province and the Summer Capital.
“With the sustained high number of coronavirus 2019 cases during the first quarter, the City
experienced some gaps and lapses in the referral and coordination of COVID-19 cases to temporary
treatment management facilities and hospitals,” Anaban said.
On March 18 of this year, she added, the CDRRMC action officer initiated a meeting with the DOH
regional office representing the Cordillera One Hospital Command and representatives from major
COVID-19 responders where it was agreed that the BOHCC be established.
To ensure that there will be no duplication of functions, the Cordillera OHCC will be in charge of referral and coordination from Baguio hospitals to other hospitals. All referral and coordination within the city shall be handled by the Baguio OHCC.
Critical in the OHCC is the real-time data on facility/hospital beds availability, she stressed.
The CDRRMO usually does the disinfection activities, but with the BOHCC, the office takes active role
serving as the main coordinator of the OHCC, Anaban said.
She mentioned several concerns such as the inadequate number of ambulance vehicles and lack of manpower at the CDRRMO Operations Center which causes delays in the transport of patients from destination to facilities, lack of quarantine facilities, and long turnover of patients in hospitals.
The problem on inadequate facilities is currently being worked upon by the city with the Office of Civil Defense while the BCCIU is currently being equipped with basic medical equipment and manpower to cater to moderate cases and serve as temporary holding facility to prevent the long turn-over of patients due to long queues in hospital emergency rooms.
The BGHMC is also establishing its own staging facility for patients who are waiting to be accommodated at the hospital emergency rooms.
Also discussed were the limited manpower at CDRRMO operation center and responders getting sick
that would need augmentation from other offices.
As a way forward, she said the CDRRMC secretariat needs to convene members of the BOHCC to
meet and formulate a strategic action plan that would bolster the City’s fight against the ongoing COVID-
19 pandemic. – Gaby B. Keith
