By CESAR JOLITO III
Amid mounting complaints from local chief executives over delays linked to the One Hospital Command (OHC) referral system, the Negros Occidental provincial government has maintained that the problem lies not in the digital platform itself but in hospital emergency room triage and human implementation on the ground.
Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz II said that OHC is designed as a management and monitoring tool to organize hospital referrals and optimize healthcare delivery, particularly during emergencies.
However, Diaz acknowledged that lapses occur when hospital personnel misapply referral rules.
“There were cases where patients brought by ambulance were refused admission because of lack of referral. That should not happen,” Diaz stressed.
“For emergency cases, there is no need for a referral. The problem is human in nature,” he added.
Diaz explained that OHC is essentially a computer-based system that shows hospital capacity, availability of beds and performance of personnel.
“It should never be used to say ‘no’ to patients,” he said, adding that delays often stem from bottlenecks in emergency room triage — the process of prioritizing patients based on the severity of their condition.
Concerns from local officials intensified this week after Cadiz City Mayor Salvador Escalante Jr., president of the Negros Association of Chief Executives (ACE), claimed that lives were lost due to referral delays under the system.
Escalante cited instances where patients were made to wait in tricycles or ambulances while referrals were being cleared.
Toboso Mayor Richard Jaojoco has even suggested scrapping the OHC altogether.
Diaz warned against such a move, saying it would reverse gains in monitoring and coordination.
“If we remove the OHC, we go back to a time when there was no management tool at all,” Diaz said.
Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson has asked Negros ACE to formally submit its position on the OHC following the complaints.
While critical of current implementation, Escalante said the system still has merits and should be improved rather than abandoned.
“We acknowledge that OHC has good points, but it needs fine-tuning,” Escalante said, recalling a motorcycle accident victim who died after being brought to the Cadiz District Hospital, allegedly due to referral delays.
“Recent incidents exposed inefficiencies, especially during urgent situations,” the mayor said.
Diaz said he is preparing an action plan for Lacson, backed by data analytics on the performance of provincial hospitals.
He noted that the provincial government is investing around P1.5 billion for the improvement of healthcare facilities, equipment and medicine supplies, as well as salaries and benefits for health workers.
“What we need is to improve the quality of service,” Diaz said, adding that the province is also strengthening primary healthcare units such as rural health units and city and municipal health offices, which can address many cases as first responders./CJ, WDJ