Free COVID-19 consultations thru Cebu TeleGaBAI

Cebu residents can now seek medical advice from physicians without going to the hospitals with the launching of the Cebu COVID-19 TeleGaBAI by Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC).

This service is in partnership with the Philippine College of Physicians, Cebu Medical Society, and other local medical societies.

The public can consult physicians by calling the TeleGABAI hotline numbers or send a message through the official Facebook page.

The public can contact Cebu Covid-19 TeleGaBAI through their official Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/cebutelegaBAI) or through the Cebu TeleGaBAI hotline numbers: 0960-929-2606, 0960-929-2607, 0960-929-2608, and 0960-929-2609.

Doctors from different provincial and district hospitals and even patients can ask for medical assistance from their medical experts via the Cebu TeleGaBAI.

The VSMMC initiated the 24/7 Cebu Covid-19 TeleGaBAI program to help decongest the Cebu emergency rooms and hospitals from asymptomatic and mild patients.

The program provides a venue for licensed doctors to guide and advise patients and their families to manage their infections at home.

It is patterned after the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) COVID TeleGabay Program, which was launched in March.

The said program is an integration of healthcare services delivery by the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF), Emergency Operation Center (EOC) of the cities and municipalities in Cebu, the Department of Health (DOH-7) and with the support of the Office of the Presidential Assistant for the Visayas (OPAV).

Since they launched the program on Aug. 13, they now have 250 volunteers including doctors, PGIs, medical interns, allied health professionals, and non-MD volunteers. There is no honorarium and each volunteer has to provide his/her own cellphone, sim, and load to call the patients to respond to questions, for teleconsultation, daily monitoring. The volunteers are on duty from 4 to 12 hours a day, depending on their availability.