More nurses deployed to Bacolod; Med techs train in Cebu

Some 15 nurses have been deployed by the Department of Health in Central Visayas (DOH-7) to hospitals here to boost response to local cases of coronavirus disease (Covid-19).

The deployment of more healthcare personnel was facilitated by the Office of the Presidential Assistant for the Visayas (OPAV) led by Secretary Michael Lloyd Dino, which is part of the Cebu team assisting Bacolod in its battle against Covid-19.

Mayor Evelio Leonardia appealed for urgent assistance from President Rodrigo Duterte last month.

“The OPAV vows to continuously help the City of Bacolod and Province of Negros Occidental,” it said.

Today, the first batch of four medical technologists from the Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital (CLMMRH) started their two-day training at the DOH-7’s Cebu TB Reference Laboratory-Molecular Facility for Covid-19 Testing in Cebu City.

“The medical technologists will see and experience the best practices of the DOH-7 Cebu molecular laboratory. This is part of the commitment of OPAV to capacitate the laboratories in Western Visayas,” it added.

In July, the CLMMRH opened its molecular laboratory in partnership with Bacolod.

Dr. Mary Jean Loreche, chief pathologist of DOH-7, earlier visited Bacolod and Negros Occidental to share the best laboratory practices of Cebu.

According to OPAV, the linkage aims to capacitate and streamline the laboratory operations in Region 6 through ocular visits and sharing of recommendations to ensure timely release of results and further enhance contact tracing efforts and slow down local transmission.

On Aug. 31, a 12-member medical team of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, including two doctors, four nurses, and six aid men, also arrived in the city and were deployed to two private hospitals.

One team, comprised of one doctor, two nurses, and three medical aides, was dispatched to Dr. Pablo O. Torre Memorial Hospital (Riverside Medical Center) while the other was assigned to the Bacolod Queen of Mercy Hospital.

As of yesterday, Bacolod has 2,774 cases, including 1,528 active cases; 1,211 recoveries; and 35 deaths.*