The onslaught of the COVID-19 pandemic caught the whole world flatfooted. Not even the highly engineered defense systems of the wealthiest and most powerful countries could shield their people. No one was spared bringing almost all nations down to their knees.

And cure remains elusive.

For the whole UIC, the fight continues. The challenge brought about a much stronger institution as it adapted to the new setup. It also designed a retrofitted structure in accordance with the guidelines from the national and local pandemic management groups. It has proven the resilience it can muster to deal with the situation.

As expected, the Health Services Office has played a truly significant role that is time-sensitive and highly delicate.

As frontliners, the HSO personnel were at risk and were not free from getting inflicted. But they never wavered because for them duty comes first. In such a sad state they managed to work remotely and maintained close coordination with the local government unit to provide aid to those who were gravely affected.

The HSO was able to craft policies based on the LGU’s interim guidelines to direct and safeguard the community. The office did a series of continuous monitoring of the Support Service Personnel, Administrators, Maintenance, and other UIC staff. They ensured proper coordination regarding referral and consultation and extended their services beyond what was expected – providing comfort, assurance, and safety to the whole UIC community. “People were in so much shock and anxiety about the situation that we had to toughen up and gear up because somehow, we felt like we were shining a ray of light on them”, according to one HSO staff. They have also opened a line for Tele-Medicine or TELEMED that was immediately started to provide the much-needed health services.