COMMAND CENTER. A woman looks at a computer monitor at the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center Command Center in Cebu City in this undated photo. The Department of Health-run facility’s fully equipped command center for emergency and crisis situations was inaugurated on Monday (April 15, 2024). (DOH photo)
MANILA – The Department of Health (DOH) has inaugurated a state-of-the-art Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC) Command Center in Cebu City to better serve the Visayas.
In a news release on Tuesday, DOH Secretary Teodoro Herbosa defined the VSMMC Command Center as the first among hospitals in Visayas to be fully equipped to respond to health emergencies and manage disasters.
“Today marks a significant milestone in our commitment to enhancing emergency and disaster management in the Visayas Region. The inauguration of the command center at VSMMC represents a crucial step towards ensuring swift and coordinated responses to health crises," he said during the inauguration on Monday.
"This facility will serve as a beacon of resilience and preparedness in times of need. This initiative is vital in advancing universal healthcare through proactive disaster management,” he added.
The VSMMC Command Center is DOH-operated and has 1,500 beds with a multi-specialty academic medical center and healthcare provider network in the province.
It has a monitoring mechanism with a live closed-circuit television feed and real-time data surveillance to cater to local emergencies; live weather updates from the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration; seismological activities and observations of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology; Central Visayas Electronic Health Referral System; and in-house queueing system watch, daily bed utilization, patient tracking system, and electronic health record system monitoring.
"This milestone is an embodiment of the Department’s 8-Point Action Agenda, particularly the fourth action agenda – Handa sa Krisis (Ready for Crises)," Herbosa said.
The inauguration was also attended by VSMMC executive committee and medical center chief Dr. Gerardo Aquino Jr., DOH Undersecretary for Universal Health Care - Health Services Cluster Area III (Visayas) Dr. Gloria Balboa, DOH Central Visayas Center for Health Development Regional Director Jaime Bernadas, and Cebu Provincial Board member and Committee on Public Health and Social Services chairperson Stanley Caminero. (PNA)
