The healthcare sector witnessed first-hand how the COVID-19 virus has affected millions of people across the globe. As the segment that plays a critical role in combatting the health crisis, it caught sight of how the disease has inflicted pain and suffering to patients and medical frontliners.

The University of the Philippines-Philippine General Hospital (UP-PGH) was among the healthcare institutions that remained unfazed amid the overwhelming impacts of the pandemic. They braved the challenges to fulfill their unbreakable commitment to delivering the best health care services to indigent Filipinos all over the country.

“With the announcement of the lockdown due to the COVID pandemic, the outpatient department of PGH had to close. Unfortunately, that meant 500,000 patients will not have access to our outpatient clinics. And for people who can only afford to go to PGH, that was a huge problem,” said UP Manila Chancellor Carmencita Padilla.

Being designated as a COVID-19 referral hospital, they experienced a rapid increase in patient admissions, prompting them to be resilient to continuously assist their patients.

Through their partnership with PLDT Enterprise, they immediately deployed a hotline system to communicate efficiently to the public and attend to their immediate health care needs.

“We had to react and come up with a solution immediately and we were very fortunate that we were able to partner with PLDT Enterprise to come up with a hotline for our patients. Through their assistance, we had the opportunity of having a health care hotline system so that we can connect with our patients. That was the beginning of hotline number 155-200,” Padilla shared.

They were also able to expand their health care hotline services from an avenue to respond to queries and donations to a helpline for assisting outpatients who need to book a consultation.

“Before, a patient who wanted to consult at PGH will have to do face-to-face scheduling. Through the hotline #155-200, now they’re able to do an online consultation request an appointment with one of the clinics at PGH,” Padilla added.

To this end, PLDT Enterprise has been enabling organizations all over the country including hospitals and healthcare companies through products and solutions suited to empower their business operations despite the challenges of the next normal.

“We at PLDT Enterprise recognize our role as a trusted partner to organizations seeking to further improve their operations and address the changing needs of their communities. As a transformation enabler to UP-PGH, we will continue to empower them with innovative digital solutions, enhancing the delivery of quality healthcare to the patients they serve,” said JojoGendrano, FVP & Head of PLDT and Smart Enterprise.

Recently, PLDT Enterprise introduced its Unbreakable Commitment campaign to exhibit how partnerships have supported companies to succeed despite difficulties and in turn, contributed to the lives of Filipinos.

Likewise, the campaign cements PLDT Enterprise’s unbreakable commitment to enabling organizations through curated digital solutions suited to support their data and operations.

“With this COVID war, the limits of our commitment have been tested. But I believe that nothing is impossible when you have partnerships in place. We have many volunteers at the call center and we had the PLDT Enterprise as our partner,” Padilla furthered.

“We have been relying on PLDT Enterprise’s commitment, expertise, and technical support in continuing our hotline services which have been integrated into the day-to-day services of the hospital. Hopefully, with the expansion of the hotline services, we will be able to serve the original 58,000 patients a month of PGH. As we transform and upgrade our hotline services, we envision PLDT Enterprise to be a partner in this journey,” said Padilla.

As the country strives to achieve herd immunity, the University of the Philippines-Philippine General Hospital will remain steadfast in fulfilling its commitment of serving the healthcare needs of Filipinos. Through the support of nurses, doctors, medical staff and volunteers, the institution will accomplish its mission of combatting these invisible enemies.

“PGH is always committed to serving the people and this pandemic tested the limits of our commitment but nothing is impossible if you have people helping each other.”

Watch UP PGH’s interview here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsFDFAB2HmM&t=3s

To learn more, visit pldtenterprise.com