The future of Philippine public health is indeed bright and golden as another hospital completes the third stage of the Performance Governance System (PGS) Pathway.
Vying for the Proficient Status, the Rizal Medical Center (RizalMed) successfully presented its initiatives, milestones, and progress along the PGS Pathway in their online revalida last March 29, earning them a well-deserved Gold Trailblazer award.
RizalMed Medical Center Chief Dr. Rica Lumague zealously shared the organization’s plan to become the preferred Department of Health multi-specialty, end-referral center in Surgery, Ophthalmology, Neuroscience, Oncology, and Dermatology in Eastern NCR and CALABARZON.
As a teaching and training, level III, DOH-retained hospital in Pasig City, RizalMed began its PGS journey in 2018 and was conferred the PGS Compliant status in June 2019. Under Republic Act 11208, signed into law last February 2019, the hospital’s bed capacity increased from 300 to 500 beds. This expansion allowed RizalMed to provide even better care and services to its patients.
In her presentation, Dr. Lumague said that with the help of their network and partners, they were able to capacitate their human resources and provide support for their healthcare providers, especially during the critical period of the COVID-19 Pandemic when there was an evident shortage of medical supplies. She also highlighted that their human resource is the hospital’s bread and butter, which they hope to take to a greater level in the coming years.
“I think one of our best assets is really our human resource and part of making sure that we can manage our human resource is through the prime HRM level 2 maturity that has been given to Rizal Medical Center. And this year, we aim to further go for level 3 maturity with the incorporation of our human resource information system,” she said.
During the panel evaluation led by Dr. Glory Baltazar, RizalMed was commended for its exceptionally detailed presentation of its plans and milestones and was asked how they harmonized their PGS deliverables and strategy with their day-to-day activities.
“A very very strong tool that we have used is the Strategic Performance Management System and with these, we have regular betting sessions. After the cascading so that it is agreed and targeted by each unit on how they can connect with our strategic deliverables,” Dr. Lumague answered.
Given that there are still threats, be it from health emergencies such as a global pandemic or a natural disaster, RizalMed exhibits its resilience and preparedness by placing measures to combat the possible effects of these threats.
“Everyone knows that RMC is just several hundred meters away from the west valley fault, and as a result of that, we have already completed our retrofitting right now […] to protect our building from earthquakes. We also have telemedicine, since after the pandemic we’ve realized that telemedicine [is] always going to be one of [the] important tools that we can use to continuously be connected to our patients,” Dr. Lumague shared.
In her acceptance speech, Dr. Lumague imparted her thanks to the Institute for Solidarity in Asia and commended the Rizalmed staff for their hard work, diligence, and consistency.
“We at Rizal Medical Center are delighted that we have reached this significant milestone in our Performance Governance System journey. I’m grateful to our most precious asset, our health human resource — our doctors, nurses, allied health professionals, administrative and finance support staff, and of course, the rest of our RizalMed family. Your love and commitment to RizalMed have made this happen,” Dr. Lumague said.
