By ERWIN ‘AMBO’ DELILAN
HE IS controversial. No politician can bend his policies. He’s definitely “tough”, but with a heart.
He’s Dr. Julius “Doc Julius” Drilon, chief of hospital of the Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital (CLMMRH) in Bacolod City. He’s both “popular and unpopular” in Bacolod and Negros Occidental (NegOcc).
Doc Julius’ name “rocked” Bacolod and NegOcc at the height of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. And even until now. His “No Bantay” policy became infamous to many. Patients’ relatives/watchers slept on the roadside in front and corner of the hospital. T’was an “eyesore”.
Politicians like former Toboso, Negros Occidental mayor and now councilor Richard Jaojoco, 5th District’s Cong. Dino Yulo and Bacolod City’s Mayor Albee Benitez provided temporary shelters for the patients’ watchers.
Now, contemplating to follow suit is Gov. Bong Lacson. He is proposing that the building of the College of Nursing of the University of St. La Salle (USLS)-Bacolod just beside the CLMMRH be converted into a watchers’ quarters.
But it can’t be. The target area and the building per se are not owned by the provincial capitol anymore. It’s now under the name of the Department of Health (DOH).
Both the land and building were donated by the provincial government to DOH in 2021 right after the joint venture agreement (JVA) between the former and USLS-Bacolod expired in April of the same year.
And Doc Julius bared they already have a plan to convert the building into an annex for their Out-Patient Department (OPD). They’re just waiting for the final costing of their engineers.
STANDARDIZING EVERYTHING
Well, as to the “No Bantay” controversy, I took time to have a face-to-face interview with the controversial doctor. So glad that he granted my “wish”.
Straight to the point, I asked Doc Julius re: “No Bantay” policy.
His candid retort: “It’s part of standardizing everything.”
“We need to standardize our patient care system and even doctors’ training care,” he stressed.
This, as he enunciated that he has the mandate from DOH to level-up CLMMRH aligned with the government’s health agenda.
And part of this agenda is the “No Bantay” Policy.
But what I admired about him most was his acknowledgement that with what he’s doing, he developed “friends and enemies.” .
“We’re not perfect. But what we’re doing is for the people!” he punctuated.
AGAINST THE ‘TIDE OF CULTURE’
Doc Julius acknowledged that his “No Bantay” policy is going against the “tide of culture” in Bacolod and NegOcc. It even runs counter against the beliefs of others.
“But I would like to clarify that CLMMRH is neither a public market nor a public plaza,” he stressed.
The hospital management is keen about the so-called Hospital Acquired Infections (HAIs).
DOH set a standard – in every hospital the HAIs must only be at 2% ceiling.
Beyond 2% is kinda dangerous.
CLMMRH’s HAI, at present, is below 2% thus praisable.
‘SICK BOY’
CLMMRH was once billed the “Sick Boy” of DOH. Thus, upgrading or improving such is really a tedious task, confessed Doc Julius.
“Kinapoy ako for two years,” he said, citing among others the lack of hospital system and operational protocols.
“We did overtime work. But we cannot escape from misinterpretation,” he lamented.
Doc Julius said he knew that what he was doing was “painful” to some.
“But we always look at ourselves honestly. And we bet for customer-satisfaction service – no less, no more. It serves as our gauge for check and balance,” he stressed.
“And believe it,” he quipped, “we’re 98% hitting high as to our target customer-satisfaction quest. Even our external clients are tremendously satisfied with our present services.”
‘DARK AGES’ NO MORE
Furthermore, Doc Julius said, CLMMRH under his watch ain’t a perfect organization yet. But he’s beyond glad that after 12 years of being the “leader” of CLMMRH, he instituted lots changes amenable to everybody.
“Dark ages no more for CLMMRH,” he declared.
Though he knew that there were lots of “noises” along the way, he said, “I am not the type of professional who is quick to react to criticism. I always respect statutes and regulations. I don’t go beyond the laws.”
“Looking at the mirror and with all candidness, I can say I know my parameters. What I am doing is within the context of laws. However, I am not ‘pusong mamon’ or crybaby, too,” he added.
ISO CERTIFIED
To date, CLRMMRH is the sole DOH-retained hospital with International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 14001:2015 Certification in the Philippines.
However, maintaining such a status is no ordinary job. And for Doc Julius, it’s beyond passion.
As a prize, there’s a massive infrastructure development now at the CLMMRH compound.
Well, it’s really hard to translate vision to reality. But for Doc Julius, focus is the key.
If he only followed what people said, he would not be the kind of leader that CLMMRH needs.
Too, he adhered with what former US Army General George Smith Patton Jr. had advocated about leadership: “Lead me, follow me, or get out of my way.”
Thusly, for CLMMRH to be ISO certified for two consecutive years is a “feat for fate anchored on faith”.
And Doc Julius is still badly needed by CLMMRH./PN
