Baguio eyes telemed, home care for Covid-19 patients

By Liza Agoot 

BAGUIO CITY – The local government here has ordered its health services office to organize and put in place a system that will enable patients on home isolation access medical services without going to the hospital. 
    Aileen Refuerzo, chief of the Public Information Office-Baguio, on Monday said among those who can avail of the program are individuals suspected of or positive for coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19), persons with moderate and mild symptoms of the virus who are waiting for the results of their reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test result and those completing self-isolation. 
    She said the adoption of telemedicine and home care as part of the ongoing efforts of concerned government agencies and the local government is in response to the high occupancy rate of public and private hospitals due to the surge in Covid-2019 cases.
    The Department of Health in the Cordillera Administrative Region (DOH-CAR) reported that as of April 11, the region has an overall hospital occupancy rate of 75.37 percent, while Baguio City’s is 89.62 percent. 
    Based on the guidelines issued by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-IED), government hospitals are required to allocate not less than 30 percent of their bed capacity for Covid-19 patients while private hospitals are required to give 20 percent. 
    The DOH, in a press conference last week, said private hospitals in the region admitted their inability to further expand their Covid-19 bed allocation due to logistics and manpower limitations.
    "Mayor Benjamin Magalong instructed local health authorities to consider home care with telemedicine as part of the strategy to control the number of Covid-19 patients being admitted in local health facilities," Refuerzo said. 
Magalong, according to her, said 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.
    Patients will still receive quality health care even if they are at home as health workers will be visiting them for their required daily checkups, Refuerzo said, quoting the mayor.
    The home care system aims to ensure the patients suspected of or positive for Covid-19 are closely monitored, attended to, and guided on their health condition and recovery through a supervised continuity of care whether at their own home or in a hotel.
    Magalong said the system 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, especially when hospitals are almost fully occupied. 
    Baguio's health care facilities are not only used by city residents but also by people from the Mountain Province, Benguet and even by those from Ilocos, Cagayan Valley and Central Luzon regions.  -- PNA