The Amai Pakpak Medical Center (APMC) recently earned a Silver Trailblazer Award for its governance-driven transformation efforts to address healthcare gaps in the BARMM region.
During a Public Revalida with the Institute for Solidarity in Asia (ISA), APMC achieved the Compliant Status and bagged a Silver Trailblazer Award on December 4 under ISA’s governance framework, the Performance Governance System (PGS).
The Public Revalida is a democratic exercise that validates a public institution’s completion of the four stages of the PGS. Enrolled institutions include the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Department of Health, among others.
In her presentation on the hospital’s governance journey, APMC Medical Center Chief II Dr. Shalimar Sani-Rakiin highlighted the APMC’s role in bridging healthcare gaps in the BARMM region driven by poverty, growing demand for specialty services, and trauma caused by armed conflict and the pandemic.
“The Province of Lanao del Sur is the poorest province in the country,” Dr. Sani-Rakiin said. “APMC adopts the PGS, which ensures efficiency, collaboration, transparency, accountability, among others, and better health outcome of patients.”
Designated with 13 specialty centers to address community needs, Dr. Sani-Rakiin reported that two of the centers, the Heart and Lung Institutes, at APMC have been granted full and operational status by the DOH Health Facility Development Bureau.
“The establishment of Heart and Lung increased the number of patients and decreased outside referrals [and], along with the other centers, elevated APMC as one of the six Apex hospitals in Mindanao,” she said.
The region and its neighboring provinces have faced numerous armed conflicts, including the five-month-long Marawi siege in 2017 and the Mindanao State University bombing in 2023, leading to a surge in trauma cases. Recognizing the urgent need for improved trauma care, APMC began building its trauma and specialty centers and inaugurated its expanded Internal Medicine Emergency Room and Emergency Department to accommodate more patients.
“To house our specialty centers, we have commenced the construction of the seven-story multi-specialty center with service wards and the five-story trauma center,” the medical center chief added.
Meanwhile, APMC expanded its Eye Center, established in 2020, and forged strategic partnerships with nonprofit organizations and local government units to serve more patients in the region.
“For our eye center, APMC strengthened its visionary partnership with the Eye Bank Foundation of the Philippines and City Government of Iligan through a memorandum of agreement, making APMC the first official eye retrieval center in Mindanao,” Dr. Sani-Rakiin said.
In her acceptance speech, the medical center chief dedicated the achievement to the APMC team, noting that the success was a result of collective effort and a shared vision.
“Your dedication, teamwork, and brilliance have made this journey not only possible but rewarding,” Dr. Sani-Rakiin said. “This accomplishment is a testament to what we can achieve together, united by a shared vision and tireless effort.”
