New Member Of The RHU Family

Yesterday, our new Public Health Manager arrived in Candoni. Her name is Maja Japzon, a graduate of U.P. Manila. She is one of five public health managers deployed by Central Office nationwide. The four other PHMS were deployed in Aklan, Cebu, Samar and Ilocos. That makes Candoni the only municipality in Negros to have a PHM. Her role is simply to assist me in the non-medical functions of the MHO. She came just in time. I have been planning a lot of activities and programs for Candoni this July and August. One of these programs is the establishment of The Community Health Alliance and Reform Team (C.H.A.R.T.). This group of non-health professionals from different sectors of the community shall act as a consultative assembly and a forum for our health agenda. The key is people empowerment. Through the CHART, we are hopefully making a paradigm shift, telling the people that the health care workers are not the guardians of their health. Health is the responsibility of all.

But even before the implementation of this CHART, I have already started implementing this "mentality" in Candoni. The establishment of Candoni's Best is a way of getting the community, especially the barangays, involved in the endeavors and activities of health. It is a huge leap and requires a lot of faith, but hopefully, we can eliminate the "dole-out mentality" in the municipality of Candoni.

Along with my D.O.H. representative and Nurse, we introduced Maja to the Mayor, Mayor Cicero Borromeo during a courtesy call at the Mayor's Office yesterday afternoon. The Mayor shared to her his own plans for health and the things which were already started when it comes to health.

After the courtesy call, I introduced her to the entire staff, both those in the field and those stationed at the RHU. She also introduced herself and shared to them her role in the "family".

That afternoon also, I went to visit the old RHU building which is now being renovated. The objective is to convert the RHU to an infirmary and so far, work is proceeding as planned. According to the Municipal Engineer, the target date is by August.

So, things are going pretty well now for Candoni. Just like what the Mayor told the PHM, now, we are getting a notch higher.

Currently, I am blogging from the seminar hall of Palmas del Mar, attending a workshop on Strategic Information Management sponsored by TB Linc. Dra. Mabasa, one of the coordinators of TB Linc is here. She was a former teacher in Med School and former City Health officer of Bago City. She assured me of her willingness to support me in my activities as Candoni's MHO especially with regards to TB.


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