City to adopt Home Care, TELEMEDICINE

BAGUIO CITY – (April 08, 2021) – The city government is working on the adoption of home care and telemedicine as part of the ongoing efforts of concerned government agencies and the local government to address the full occupancy of public and private hospitals caused by the surge in Corona Virus Disease (COVID) 2019 cases.

Mayor Benjamin B. Magalong instructed local health authorities to consider home care coupled with telemedicine as part of the strategy to control the number of COVID patients being admitted in local health facilities.

He said there are individuals who are willing to pay for the various services that will be provided them as they opt to undergo home care while recuperating from the virus, thus, the need to explore the same to decongest hospitals of COVID patients.

Earlier, the various private hospitals in the city declared that their facilities devoted for COVID patients are fully occupied and that they could no longer expand their COVID beds to 30 percent as mandated by the health department because of financial constraints.

Mayor Magalong stated that combining home care and telemedicine to individuals who are willing to pay for whatever services that will be provided them will be a noble intervention.

He said patients that do not meet the criteria for hospital admission could still receive quality health care even if they are at home because it will be the health workers who will be visiting the patients in their homes and facilitating their required daily checkups.

The home care program was first introduced at The Medical City Clark last year and it aims to ensure the patients suspected of or positive of COVID are closely monitored, attended to, and guided on their health condition and recovery through a physical-supervised continuity of care-at-home or hotel.

Magalong urged health authorities to consider the implementation of the home care program in the city as the same has been recommended for patients who are experiencing mild symptoms of the virus as health experts believe that not all patients diagnosed with COVID-19 need to be hospitalized.

He claimed that the home care program will allow not so serious COVID patients to get top of the line medical assistance in the comfort of their homes so that they will not be included as among those who are being brought to the health facilities and contribute to the prevailing congestions in hospitals.

He added that the program will also help reduce the risk of spreading the deadly virus as they will be already be isolated in their homes and be ensured of the quality health care services that will be provided by the assigned health workers who will be constantly updating the status of the patients who will undergo the home care program.

Among those who can avail of the program are those suspected of or positive for Covid-19, those having moderate and mild symptoms of the virus awaiting their test results and those completing self-isolation. – Dexter A. See