BONTOC, Mountain Province – Governor Bonifacio C . Lacwasan, Jr. representing the Mountain Province Health Care Providers Network signed an agreement with Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center (BGHMC) Medical Director II, Dr. Larry C. Haya, Jr. for the use of the BGHMC’s Telemedicine.
Telemedicine, as defined in the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA), refers to the practice of medicine utilizing electronic and telecommunications technologies such as phone calls, chat or short messaging service, audio- and video-conferencing, among others, to deliver healthcare at a distance between a patient at an originating site, and a physician at a distant site.
The signing MOA for the partnership was held at the new Outpatient Department (OPD) of the Bontoc General Hospital (BoGH) on April 5, 2025 during the send-off program for the doctors and other medical specialists who came to the province for the Surgical and Medical Caravan. The BoGH’s new OPD is the proposed area for Telemedicine.
This partnership between the Mountain Province HCPN and the BGHMC is aligned with the goal of Section 18.1 of the Universal Health Care Act’s implementing rules and regulations, the Department of Health’s 8-point agenda or the Medium-term Strategy of the Health Sector for 2023-2028, Philippine Digital Health Strategy 2023-2035 and the Provincial Government’s and the BGHMC pursuit of championing digital technologies for health by providing efficient, accessible, quality specialty health services.
Meanwhile, a Data Sharing Agreement between the Provincial Government and the BGHMC was also signed between Governor Lacwasan and Dr. Haya. This is purposely for the confidentiality and protection of the clients’ information that is accessible and available in the Telemedicine system. By MP-PIO
