Three departments and a medical specialist of Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center bagged awards in the regional 2021 Search for Outstanding Government Workers in the Cordillera Administrative Region.
The Outpatient Drug Treatment and Rehabilitation Center (ODTRC) won the Presidential Lingkod Bayan award and even reached the national semi-final.
The award is a recognition of the department’s efforts in conducting assessments, providing interventions, and rehabilitation of people who are using illegal drugs, especially when there was a surge in the number of drug surrenderees when President Rodrigo Duterte declared a war on drugs in 2016.
ODTRC is the only accredited outpatient facility in Northern Luzon and among the three nationwide. The services of the center have been instrumental for some local government units in achieving their status as drug-free municipalities or barangays.
The team of the BGHMC molecular biology laboratory has also been awarded the Presidential Lingkod Bayan group category. Their significant contribution in curbing the spread of the Covid-19 by giving prompt and outstanding testing services in Northern Luzon by working 24/7, were recognized.
At the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, the team assigned at the molecular laboratory decided to be on voluntary lockdown to increase their testing services and to avoid possible cross-infection at home. As a sub-national laboratory, they have also been training other laboratories for them to be accredited as a testing center.
The Women and Children Protection Unit (WCPU) also won the Pag-asa award.
As a special program of the Department of Health, the WCPU provides legal and social services to victims of rape, neglect, maltreatment, trafficking and exploitation.
Dr. Thea Pamela T. Cajulao bagged the Dangal ng Bayan award for her impactful contributions in the management, treatment, prevention, and control of the Covid-19. Her contributions in infection prevention and control of other communicable diseases have also been remarkable even before the pandemic.
The awarding was in celebration of the 121st Philippine civil service anniversary this September, in line with CSC’s 10-year theme “Transforming public service in the next decade: Honing agile and future-ready servant heroes,” recognizing outstanding employees in the context of the pandemic and the new normal. – Francis Ariel P. Ramos
