By Dolly Yasa
BACOLOD City – City Administrator Em Ang, executive director and deputy for administration and operations of the Bacolod City Emergency Operations Center-Task Force (EOC-TF), urged patients with COVID-19 symptoms to seek consultation at the Bacolod Respiratory Outpatient (BRO) Center.
This, as the City Health Office (CHO) will no longer accommodate such patients starting Oct 26, 2020.
Ang said this new development in the CHO policy aims to prevent other patients, especially pregnant women who often seek consultation at the CHO’s lying-in clinic, from contracting the viral disease.
“In our daily reports, there are always pregnant women who tested positive,” she said.
The BRO Center offers free COVID-19 swab tests for individuals having Influenza-like illness.
Ang said the BRO Center located inside the Bacolod Arts, Youth and Sports (BAYS) Center in San Juan Street has been offering and continues to offer free consultation and free COVID-19 swab tests.
The center’s regular consultation hours are from 8 am to 12 pm, Mondays to Fridays.
But according to BRO Center administrator Dr. Edwin Miraflor, they will be extending their consultation hours until 5 pm to accommodate more patients in view of the new CHO policy.
Ang said that the respiratory center has a triage area, 10 separate consultation rooms, a laboratory collection room, and a mobile X-Ray machine.
“With the BRO Center in place, patient traffic will be lesser in emergency rooms and outpatient department in hospitals. The BRO Center will be our catchment area,” Ang added.
