PGS, Event, PGF, Partner, NGA, Resources, Blog

Different stages, one ultimate goal: Three public institutions uplift welfare of Filipinos through the PGS

Every stage of life is said to be the foundation for the next. Similarly, the Performance Governance System (PGS) is a four-stage governance pathway, with each stage representing the ideal progress of an organization, that ultimately leads to one common goal—to produce breakthrough results that create a positive impact on the Filipino people. 

Recently, the Institute for Solidarity in Asia (ISA) witnessed the PGS journey of three organizations, namely, the Social Security System (SSS), Dr. Paulino J. Garcia Memorial Research and Medical Center (PJGMRMC), and Philippine Children’s Medical Center (PCMC) during their Public Governance Forum Online Revalida.

The SSS, PCMC, and PJG successfully passed the Initiation, Compliance, and Proficiency Stage, respectively, with SSS and PCMC bagging the Silver Trailblazer Award and PJG securing the highest PGS award from ISA.

With the implementation of RA 11199 or the Social Security Act of 2018, which allows SSS to implement increases in contribution rates, the SSS positioned itself to ensure progressively higher levels of social security protection for Filipino workers and their families, as evidenced by fund sustainability and benefit adequacy.

Complementing its strategic objective are eight roadmaps including, benefits, investment and loans, and information capital. In their presentation, SSS President and CEO, Ms. Aurora C. Ignacio, revealed that turning the organization’s manual service delivery into a customer-centric, digital model “brought the benefits program in a faster, safer, and more convenient manner”. For its investment roadmap, Ms. Iganciao shared that the SSS, through the Calamity Loan Assistance Program, released P26.4 billion in loans, benefitting a total of 1.8 million members.  

The social insurance program also accelerated their digitization efforts through the uSSSap Tayo Portal and SSS Mobile App, with the latter being among the Top Five most downloaded apps in the country.

Vying for the Compliance stage, the PJG, led by Medical Center Chief, Dr. Huberto Lapuz, presented the hospital’s emerging breakthrough results produced from their strategy execution.

Their conferral of the PGS Initiated Status in 2019 was shortly followed by the COVID-19 pandemic, which strongly affected not only their overall operations but also their PGS processes. With this, PJG underwent a strategy review in October 2021 and positioned itself as a 600-bed regional multi-specialty medical center serving Central Luzon by 2022.

In his presentation, Dr. Lapuz shared that the PJG achieved 108 out of 131 committed deliverables on patient care, training, research, and linkages, among others. With concerns on communication and engagement of the hospital with its locals arising, Dr. Lapuz assured that their hand-in-hand collaboration with community leaders helps keep their patients updated and well-cared for.

“Our members: one, a president of barangay health workers, a provincial health officer, and the members of healthcare workers of Nueva Ecija— these people help us to disseminate info on what’s really happening in our hospital. We utilize a radio station to disseminate info to the public. We attend various meetings with community leaders, informing them of what’s happening in our hospital, the changes, and new services we are now offering to communities,” Dr. Lapuz said.

In preparation for its journey to the Proficiency stage, PCMC calibrated its strategic position during a strategy refresh in 2020. Anchored on the Universal Health Care (UHC) act, the DOH flagship hospital for children now positions itself as the National Reference Center for Advanced Pediatric Specialty Care. 

PCMC OIC Executive Director, Dr. Sonia B. Gonzalez, presented the breakthroughs achieved by the PCMC so far in their PGS journey, particularly on childhood leukemia, health financing, improved health outcomes, liver transplant consortium, and dialysis services for children, or CHILD.

Another noteworthy innovation of the hospital is the creation of an internal multi-sectoral governance council (MSGC), composed of PCMC employees formed as committees, whose function is to coordinate closely with the external MSGC. 

“It’s a support of the OSM since the OSM oversees everything. They will think of projects or innovations while linking to the external MSGC for networking. It’s more strategic and focus-oriented,” Dr. Gonzalez added.

Inspired and enlightened with remarks and insights from their respective panel experts, the three organizations all progress to the next PGS stage, with the PCMC only one step away from completing the governance pathway. 

In his acceptance speech, Dr. Lapuz shared his battle as a COVID-19 survivor in providing quality care for their patients amid the health crisis. 

“The pandemic has put a lot of matters on hold. Personally, I was not spared. My faith has strengthened and my love for PJG grew more as they carry on with delivering serbisyong maasahan even when I was in my sickbed. Thank you to everyone who made sure that good governance prevails in our hospital,” he said.

Related Posts