A Disappointed Governor Degamo, and a Disppointed Voter

A controversial Facebook post is now circulating online in Dumaguete City and the rest of Negros Oriental. It is a video with a voice recording of what sounds to be the now-seated Governor Roel Degamo.

The 1:44 video sounds like the Governor is having a meeting with the staff of Negros Oriental Provincial Hospital (NOPH). And in the meeting, the seated Governor bluntly expressed his disappointment to the people he was talking to, with some mixed Cebuano explicit words. 

You can check the video here, and hopefully it is still up on Facebook by the time you are reading this.

I believe that the members of NOPH did not deserve Degamo’s ranting. His anger is politically fueled after having a steep competition against the Teves on the election poles and in Social Media. The staff of NOPH deserves better treatment from the leaders they are working for.

Here are my personal observations about the Negros Oriental Provincial Hospital

This observation was from a few years back, and I hope it has changed.

The air conditioning system of the building is poorly designed. 

A small room with an occupant of 6 beds has an installed 0.5 HP Window Type AirCon. It was not a temporary installation because the hole in the wall snugly holds the 0.5 HP AC. And if you look closer, the filters were dirty and without basic maintenance. 

You don't need to be an engineer to tell that the room is poorly designed.

The NOPH lacks an orthopedic surgeon and an operating table. 

My nephew and a close friend had a terrible accident and were admitted to the Provincial Hospital. My nephew broke a bone in his arm, while my friend had an unfortunate motorcycle accident and  broke both bones of his legs. 

The process before (not sure now) was first come, first serve. Meaning, even how severe your fracture, the person that was admitted ahead of you will be prioritized. And to make things worse, the operating table used for operation is shared as a maternity ward. 

Which means, women giving birth will be prioritized to use the room.

My nephew was lucky because we were able to borrow money and transferred to a private hospital after waiting at NOPH for 1-week. My friend did not have the money, and he had to wait for a month before he had his turn at the operating table, and lucky enough, he can walk today.

The hospital lacks hospital beds. 

This is not a surprise since NOPH is the largest public hospital here in Negros Oriental. But still, the Government should do something about this. And only recently, we went there to confine our Grandfather because he was having difficulty breathing. We were immediately assisted at the receiving area of the Emergency Room. But sadly, we were told to wait for 2 to 3 days for a chance of a bed on the ward. Hence, we will just be placed aside someplace in the Emergency Room. It was heartbreaking to hear this. Lucky for us because we had family members willing to help and transferred to a private hospital. 

But how about those who are poor? 

Can we expect free medical help from the Negros Provincial Hospital?

These conditions of the Negros Oriental Provincial Hospital are not only pains of the patients. These major inconveniences are also a burden on the staff of the hospital. I personally believe that most of them would want to serve their oath to take care of the sick, and the wounded, and give them the best possible treatment. 

But how can they do that when the hospital itself lacks resources?

The big man speaking on the video was very unfair to the staff of NOPH. Everybody working in that building is overworked and exposed to stressful working conditions everyday. He even challenged them to quit. If only the Province is able to give more opportunities for work, I am sure they will.

Governor Roel Degamo should explain why he behaved that way. He is the Governor, he should know better about other ways to motivate people at work.