By Oscar C. Pineda
Tuesday, January 27, 2015
THE municipality of Medellin, Cebu now has two roving nurses tasked to answer house calls and provide medical assistance to senior citizens in its 19 barangays, said Mayor Ricky Ramirez.
Medellin has around 5,000 senior citizens, said Ramirez. The 2010 census placed its population at 50,000.
“Mas nindot ni kay ang di kalakaw murag gi-door-to-door ang pag-atiman nila (This is good because it is like providing a door-to-door service to those senior citizens who can no longer walk),” said 66-year-old Angelina Mangubat, Office of the Senior Citizen Affairs (Osca) president and Barangay Dayhagon secretary.
Ramirez said that the blood pressure and vital signs of the elderly will be regularly checked by the nurses, giving priorities to those who are bedridden and on wheelchairs. He revealed that the nurses will use two motorcycles.
These nurses, who are also called mobile health care workers, are given barangay assignments where they would visit the homes of the elderly from Monday to Friday.
They are also on-call anytime of the day to respond to emergency cases.