• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Two members of the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino (PDP), who are eyeing for elected positions in the May elections next year, want to abolish the One Hospital Command System (OHC) system of the Negros Occidental provincial government, claiming it was only good during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Under the OHC system, all provincial government-managed hospitals have been ordered to strictly implement “No Referral, No Admission Policy,” to avoid walk-ins and overcrowding at hospital triage and emergency rooms.
Formed as part of the province’s Digitizing Health and Emergency Management initiative, the OHC system serves as the center of communications between referrals from one hospital to another.
Through Digitizing Health and Emergency Management, the provincial government seeks to deliver efficient health services; effectively manage health services, resources, and manpower; and operationalize the patient referral system as required by the Universal Health Care Act; as well as give immediate response to all forms of emergencies, and foster collaboration and coordination between responders and the hospital management team.
It also facilitates medical transport and patient pick-up arrangements, provides health system capacity, data analytics, risk communications, and optimizes the use of critical care services of every hospital in Negros Occidental.
In a press briefing, Former Victorias City Mayor Francis Frederick Palanca, who is challenging incumbent Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson in the May 2025 gubernatorial race, said that the OHCS was only good during the pandemic period, as he questioned its continuity.
Palanca claimed that many have died because they cannot be immediately accommodated in government hospitals, as they have to wait for referrals from the OHC system regarding the government hospitals where they will be accommodated.
The OHCS has been managed by the Hospital Operations Department of the province since 202.
Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson disclosed that One Hospital Command program simplifies the process of providing Negrenses with rescue and medical interventions in times of emergency.
Expressing his support to the call of Palanca for the abolition of OHC system, former Hinobaan Mayor Ernesto Estrao, who is vying the Negros Occidental 6th district congressional seat, also described the OHC system as “detrimental and chaos to the poor.”
Estrao said the referral system delays the treatment of patients.
Palanca and Estrao, along with Bacoleño senatorial candidate JV Hinlo, are all members of the PDP.*
