VSMMC launches free COVID-19 consultations via social media platform “Cebu TeleGaBAI”

MINERVA BC NEWMAN

CEBU CITY – The Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC) calls on Cebu residents to seek advice from physicians without going to the hospitals with the launching of COVID-19 “Cebu TeleGaBAI”, a social media platform where people can contact hotline numbers or send a message through the official Facebook page.

VSMMC Medical Center Chief Dr. Gerardo Aquino Jr. said that the public can contact Cebu Covid-19TeleGaBAI through https://www.facebook.com/cebutelegaBAI or through the Cebu TeleGaBAI hotline numbers:  0960-929-2606, 0960-929-2607, 0960-929-2608, and 0960-929-2609.

This service is in partnership with the Philippine College of Physicians, Cebu Medical Society, and other local medical societies, Aquino said VSMMC ill always lead in providing the public quality, accessible, and responsive healthcare services.

“The lines to vacancies for hospital admission are long and patients need to know how to temporize while waiting," Dr. Helen Madamba, chief of the VSMMC's Professional and Allied Health Services (Medical Social Service and Health Information Management) said.

Madamba revealed that since they launched the program on August 13, they now have 250 volunteers including doctors, PGIs, medical interns, allied health professionals, and non-MD volunteers.

"There is no honorarium and each volunteer have to provide his/her own cellphone, sim, and load to call the patients to respond to questions, for teleconsultation, daily monitoring," she added that the volunteers are on duty from 4 to 12 hours a day, depending on their availability.

The goal is to guide, so we provide "Gabay" or give "Tambag." To give Cebuano twist, we changed the spelling to TeleGaBAI because BAI locally means friend, Madamba explained.

Madamba said that this was set up now because this effort hopefully fills an identified gap of providing medical advice and information to patients who are symptomatic and may or may not have tested positive for COVID19 and are staying at home.

“This is true to our commitment and brand for a shared identity. We are here for you and you are here for us.  We shall fight this unseen enemy, together! Doctors from different provincial and district hospitals and even patients can ask for medical assistance from our medical experts via the Cebu TeleGaBAI,” Aquino added.

No need for patients to physically visit the city hospitals or clinics for they can seek consult or medical advice anytime through TeleGaBAI.  VSMMC initiated this 24/7 program to help decongest the Cebu emergency rooms and hospitals from asymptomatic and mild patients, according to Aquino.

The program provides a venue for licensed doctors to guide and advise patients and their families to manage their infections at home.  It is patterned after the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) COVID TeleGabay Program, which was launched in March.

This is an integration of healthcare services delivery by the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF), Emergency Operation Center (EOC) of the cities and municipalities in Cebu, the Department of Health (DOH-7) and with the support of the Office of the Presidential Assistant for the Visayas (OPAV).

The logo of TeleGaBai shows the brand and image of Sotto wherein the telephone as the mean of communication for patients who are seeking for medical assistance, while the Stethoscope stands for medical experts who shall be providing the latter, Dr. Aquino explained.

Presidential Assistant for the Visayas (OPAV) Secretary Michael Lloyd Dino lauded the initiative, expressing support from the national government thru President Rodrigo Duterte and Senator Bong Go for the Malasakit to Cebu.

“We need this kind of Bayanihan especially in this trying time. Hopefully the public will utilize this program so as not to overwhelm our hospitals in Cebu,” Dino said. He also urged the other regions to activate their own TeleGabay to help the public with the threat of the different variants of COVID-19. (Photos: VSMMC)