In the aftermath of the 7.2-magnitude earthquake that badly hit Bohol, the Silliman University Medical Center sent a team of volunteer nurses and medical technologists to Ramiro Community Hospital, a fellow member of the Christian Hospital Association of the Philippines, on a hospital-to-hospital assistance basis.
The 13-man team composed of nine nurses and four medical technologists were deployed at Ramiro Hospital from Oct. 22 to 31 mainly to augment and relieve their employees, especially in the Nursing Service, who had been working for 12 hours or more a day the past few days after they were hit by the quake.
The mission to send out a team of volunteers on a hospital-to-hospital assistance was brought about by the offer made by SUMC president/administrator Roberto D. Montebon to Ramiro Hospital Administrator Dr. Audrey L. Ramiro.
Dr. Ramiro communicated their acceptance of the offer through their Chief Nursing Officer Elgie Ygnalaga- Melad, a retired SUMC Chief of the Nursing Service Department.
Melad said the arrival of the SUMC volunteers was timely since their employees did not have enough rest and were exhausted physically and emotionally.
Melad said that at that time of the earthquake, Ramiro Community Hospital had 96 in-patients in their 100-bed capacity, whom they evacuated three times during the successive aftershocks.
She further said that 17 of their own employees and their families were badly affected by the earthquake, who were also brought to the Ramiro Hospital, one of the few in Bohol that was declared safe.
The volunteers were accompanied by SUMCFI Director of Nursing Fredita Tan, and were warmly received by Dr. Luther & Dinah Ramiro, and their staff.
Among those who volunteered were nurses: Dominique Ablir, Jercel Alcancia, Phoebe Gatchalian, Honey Frances Gitamondoc, Rosette Jarabe, Aliyah Vivien Malonzo, Karen April Somido, Alex Yap, and Kyndale Zerna; and medical technologists: Rickmel Amiscaray, Abigail Buot, Marica Pidor, and Karla Polestico.
The assistance was made possible through the generous donations given by the Hospital employees and consultants in response to a memorandum that the SUMCFI President/Administrator sent out on Oct. 21, enjoining everyone to donate any amount of cash to help defray the expenses of the said mission.
Ramiro Community Hospital provided meals, accommodation, and a share of the cost of seafare for the volunteers.
Meanwhile, the same generosity and response was also accorded by the SUMCFI staff when the President/Administrator also sent out a memorandum on Nov. 7, appealing for help for those who were rendered homeless and lost their property and belongings in the aftermath of the floods that hit Bayawan City and three other towns in the 3rd District of Negros Oriental on Nov. 6. The donations gathered from the Hospital staff augmented the resources for the assistance program. (Christine Realiza/SUMC PR)
