To strengthen primary care under the context of Universal Health Care (UHC), the Department of Health Calabarzon has concluded its First Conference for Development Management Officers (DMOs), said Regional Director Eduardo Janairo.
DMOs are the key implementers of the foundation of UHC “who provide realization of the achievement of health targets and goals in the community,” Janairo said. “They also ensure the implementation of health care delivery system at the local level.”
Under the UHC, he said DOH Regional Offices will become Centers for Health Development, which will nurture, support and sustain excellence and innovations in public health.
“DMOs will be leading the implementations of new directions in the health care system,” he emphasized.
DMOs act as the DOH’s chief executive at the local level. They provide technical assistance in hospital development, assists in the formation of functional units such as disease and outbreak surveillance, disaster response and regulatory issues.
Janairo added that DMOs also perform tasks such as resource mobilizer, evaluator and inter-agency and inter-sectoral collaborator.
During the conference, various situations were given to DMOs of the five provinces in the region—Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon—to resolve during emergencies, outbreaks, and disaster response.
“These exercises will improve their competencies as health network providers and enhance their capability and skills in management and response,” he said.
DMOs were given various service delivery network algorithms to develop and improve including identification and mapping of health facilities at the local level.
“As health providers, we need to be proactive and innovative in order to provide real-time health care to those in need. Health care system must always be ready to assist anyone and that medical services including availability of health human resource and medicines must also be ensured,” he said.
Janairo said no one should beg for health. “It’s not right that when a person becomes sick, he would still look for a hospital which will admit him.”
He said the health system should take care of them, “and we will use and fix it so it will no longer be hard for them.
At present, he said there are 46 DMOs in Calabarzon located at the Provincial DOH Offices in the provinces – eight in Cavite, 10 each in Laguna and Batangas, five in Rizal, and 13 in Quezon.