NPNRC urges public to refrain from prank calling hotline numbers

An official of the National Patient Navigation and Referral Center (NPNRC), formerly the One Hospital Command, on Friday urged the public to refrain from prank calling their hotline numbers.

“Ang aming panawagan lang po sa mga callers natin, iwasan po natin na gamitin ‘yung mag hotline numbers or tumawag sa hotline numbers na prank callers po natin,” Operations Manager Bernadette Velasco said at the Laging Handa.

(We are asking prank callers to refrain from calling the hotline numbers.)

“So we’re reserving po ang aming numbers para sa nangangailangan ng medical assistance (we’re reserving our numbers for those needing medical assistance),” Velasco added.

According to Velasco, they are still receiving COVID-related calls.

However, she said most patients already know the process while they refer others needing isolation facilities to available centers.

“Most of them kasi alam na nila kung saan sila mag stay, kung kaya nila sa bahay, nagre-report na sila sa barangay officials nila or sa kanilang mga barangay health center,” she said.

(Most of them know where to stay, if they can stay at home, they’ll report it to the barangay officials or their barangay health centers.)

She added that most of the calls come from the National Capital Region (NCR).

Asked about the situation of hospitals in NCR after the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) closed down its elective procedures due to an influx of non-COVID patients, Velasco said they have observed that hospitals are filling up.

“Katulad po ng experience natin before na kapag bumababa po ang mga COVID cases, medyo tumataas din po ‘yung mga non-COVID cases,” she said, adding that this was because those with chronic illnesses or uncontrolled diseases can now get consultations and go to the emergency room.

(Similar to what we experienced before when COVID-19 cases went down, our non-COVID cases also increased.)

Velasco said the occupancy rate in NCR was observed to have increased.

“So what we are currently doing po is nakikipag-coordinate din tayo sa ibang regions so that they can also maximize po ‘yung sa kanilang mga rooms or available services so that hindi po lahat pumupunta sa NCR,” she said.

(So what we are currently doing is coordinating with other regions so that they can also maximize their rooms or available services so the patients need not go to NCR.)

She advised the public to contact 1555 and press 2 to be connected to the NPNRC. She said they may also be contacted through 0919 977 3333 (Smart) and 0915 777 7777 (Globe).

Unlike the One Hospital Command which was launched for the COVID-19 response, Velasco said the NPNRC also handles non-COVID patients.

“So ngayon po na launch na tayo as the National Patient Navigation and Referral Center, so meaning to say po hindi na lang COVID ang hina-handle natin but we also handle non-COVID patients,” she said.

(So now that we have been launched as the NPNRC, we will not only handle COVID patients but non-COVID patients as well.)

“We also expanded sa telemedicine natin or teleconsultation and lahat po ng mga medical assistance po na pwede natin i-provide sa community, tayo po ay nagko-coordinate sa proper agencies or offices,” she added.

(We also expanded our telemedicine and teleconsultation as well as the medical assistance we can provide to the community. We are coordinating with the proper agencies or offices.)

Meanwhile, she said they have advised their staff on how to handle possible monkeypox cases. Velasco said they have also started coordinating with facilities in case of a probable or confirmed monkeypox case.—AOL, GMA News