To strengthen specialty care, curb lifestyle-related diseases, and build a more resilient, community-integrated health system, the Batanes General Hospital (BatanesGH) has taken crucial steps in transformative governance, evidenced by its recently concluded Public Revalida.
BatanesGH welcomed the new year with rigor and passion for progress when they were conferred the PGS Initiated Status during their Public Revalida, bagging a Gold Trailblazer Award under the Institute for Solidarity in Asia’s (ISA) 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 (DOH), among others.
The lone DOH-retained hospital in the Batanes group of islands has become the primary healthcare lifeline for Ivatan and non-Ivatan communities. Having been shaped by various disease trends, challenging referral patterns, discouraging service utilization, and the realities of Batanes as a geographically isolated province, BatanesGH committed to positioning itself as a “trusted referral hospital providing integrated wellness and specialty care anchored on community health needs, enhanced use of advanced diagnostics, and a more personal and respectful approach to service delivery” by 2028.
During his revalida presentation, BatanesGH Medical Center Chief I, Dr. Jeffrey Antony Canceran, took to the center stage the story of “Biang”, a 50-year-old Ivatan housewife with advanced chronic kidney disease who was advised to undergo hemodialysis. According to Dr. Canceran, Biang’s life story is among the many similar realities that Batanes residents face.
“In Batanes, referrals outside the province often mean high out-of-pocket expenses, delayed care due to geography and weather, lack of access to specialists, and fragmented continuity of care. These realities are precisely why strengthening local services is not just ideal—but necessary,” Dr. Canceran said.
In relation to the existing healthcare issues and BatanesGH’s strategic position, DOH Undersecretary Glenn Matthew Baggao clarified the risks identified by BatanesGH that may somehow hinder the execution of their strategic position.
“The first one [is] human resources, number two, [are] logistical limitations, and [the] last would be fund constraints. [However,] we try to manage them through [institutional] contingency planning. We also [implement] our projects and programs so as not to disrupt our services within the institution,” he replied.
In pursuit of improving the capacity of trained homegrown specialists, Mariveles Mental Wellness and General Hospital Chief Health Program Officer Mr. Ildebrando Ruaya Jr., suggested exploring opportunities to bridge the gap in human resources.
“Add additional measure[s] that will picture out an impact, because [the] Human Capital Readiness Index is just an input measure, [an] assessment. [BatanesGH] needs to have some measure that will actually illustrate an impact, that because of this organizational development program, you have actually sustained a specialist in your area,” he suggested.
BatanesGH’s ambitions and goals, anchored in its strategic position, were lauded by the panelists, highlighting the hospital’s initiative to undergo the PGS pathway under Dr. Canceran’s leadership as a commendable and inspirational feat.
“I think you can [become] a model for hospitals that are very geographically isolated,” Panel Chair Dr. Juliet Balderas, Pediatric Cardiology Department Manager III of the Philippine Heart Center, said.
Following the conferral of its PGS Initiated status, BatanesGH was also honored with the first Gold Trailblazer Award among our partners this year. Accepting the recognition on behalf of the hospital’s management and staff, Dr. Canceran expressed his deep gratitude.
“We accept this Initiation Revalida not as an end, but as a responsibility—to strengthen execution, institutionalize good governance, and translate strategy into better health outcomes for the people of Batanes. In closing, though we serve in a remote island like Batanes, our standard of care knows no distance. We strive to provide health care that is compassionate, competent, and worthy of the trust of our Ivatan community,” he said in his acceptance speech.
“Para po sa kalusugan ng bawat Ivatan, dahil sa bagong Pilipinas, bawat buhay mahalaga!”
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The Institute for Solidarity in Asia (ISA) is a non-partisan, non-profit governance reform organization that envisions a Dream Philippines where every government institution delivers and every citizen participates and prospers.