ILOILO CITY -- Patients confined at the Western Visayas State University Medical Center (WVSUC) and the hospital's medical staff can have 24/7 internet connectivity through the "Free WiFi For All" program implemented by the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT).
The DICT on Wednesday has launched the program at WVSUMC in this city’s Jaro district, making it the first hospital in Western Visayas to have free public WiFi.
Felino Castro, assistant secretary of DICT, said in an interview that WVSUMC is considered as the leading health care institution in this city, thus, it needs to boost its internet connectivity.
“If you are having caseloads of at least 200 to 400 patients passing through your emergency rooms, same number passing through your outpatient department, there are a lot of citizens that will be able to benefit from the services,” Castro said.
The free public WiFi with a bandwidth provision of 5 Mbps was first accessed at the hospital’s lobby. Castro said the coverage will expand to the emergency room, outpatient department and hospital wards.
Castro said patients in their hospital beds could be connected to the world and can aid their psycho-social needs.
“For example, you are all alone here you get confined here in this hospital, you may need to communicate with your family who is abroad so you may use the free public WiFi for you to be able to do a video chat with your family,” he said.
Dr. Jose Senoi Galmatico, officer-in-charge of WVSUMC, said in an interview that the patients can inform their family members abroad and in other locations of their health situation.
“If you are sick, and you seek help from your relatives, you can easily contact them with the free WiFi,” Galmatico said.
Being a hospital that provides residency training to physicians, Galmatico said residents can maximize the use of the internet for research and knowledge expansion.
This will also allow health practitioners share medical issues here and seek an opinion from other practitioners from other parts of the Philippines and abroad.
Before the installation of the free WiFi, Galmatico said doctors and health professionals allot their own resources for data connection.
“This will unload our residents who subscribe through cellphone load and at the same time help in the continuing knowledge in medicine,” he said.
The DICT also installed the Free WiFi last week at Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center in Cebu City and at Southern Philippines Medical Center in Davao City, Castro said.
The DICT’s "WiFi for All program" targets to install 100,000 operational free internet access sites across the country by 2022. (PNA)
