In its transformation journey toward new heights of excellence, the Jose B. Lingad Memorial General Hospital (JBLMGH) underwent its third public revalida, showcasing its story and recent achievements under the Performance Governance System (PGS). Last August 7, JBLMGH officially completed the Proficiency stage of the PGS pathway, earning a Gold Trailblazer award for their commendable journey.
JBLMGH’s Medical Center Chief, Dr. Monserrat S. Chichioco, presented the challenges and the initiatives they took to turn their strategic position into reality. In their pursuit of providing quality healthcare to communities in need, JBLMGH envisions itself as a “regional multi-specialty, training hospital with end-referral specialty units in Critical Care, Infectious Diseases and Women’s Reproductive Health with an 850-bed capacity serving Central Luzon by 2022.”
Their transformation journey began in 2018, wherein by 2019, they were conferred with PGS Initiated status. During this time, JBLMGH’s bed capacity has increased from 500 to 1,000, alongside the hospital’s services, facilities, medical personnel, and funds. JBLMGH’s journey continued the following year, completing the PGS Compliance stage with a Gold Trailblazer award.
JBLMGH’s PGS journey was narrated in their presentation, from their humble beginnings of insufficient resources and expertise to the significant improvements in their health services amidst the challenges of the pandemic. With their unwavering commitment to creating positive change in the healthcare industry and attaining several milestones targeted at the areas mentioned in their strategic position, JBLMGH has gained the support of numerous reputable organizations and external stakeholders from various sectors.
Among their monumental breakthroughs is the successfully performed pacemaker implantations, which their Multi-sectoral Governance Council (MSGC) supported. The World Medical Relief, Inc., an international organization, also assisted JBLMGH by sponsoring 17 additional pacemakers. Another commendable development JBLMGH highlighted in their presentation is the establishment of their Molecular Diagnostic Laboratory, which served as a testing center for several regions in the country during the pandemic.
Alongside their developments are challenges that JBLMGH needs to address, which was underlined during the panel evaluation led by the Institute for Solidarity in Asia Trustee Atty. Alex Lacson. Aside from having satisfactory profitable offers from abroad, Dr. Chichioco shared that they are tackling their problem with the shortage and attrition of nurses by building strong connections with schools.
“We are connecting with the schools for them to share with us the list of those graduates who have already passed so that we can have robust recruitment operations in those schools. We do some job placement activities in some of these schools, actually, and we gain positive results,” she said.
JBLMGH doesn’t only take care of patients but also its employees. Dr. Chichioco mentioned that by conducting employee satisfaction surveys and feedback mechanisms, they learn their employees’ perspectives and can immediately address gaps. The hospital takes their employees’ well-being earnestly, as seen from their countless initiatives in handling burnout while ensuring they still meet their deliverables.
“We have programs and initiatives, especially for the burnout [employees]. We do regular team building or stress management activities,…training, and learning development assessment[s]. And we also do biannual performance governance system service so that we will know the accomplishment of the individual in relation to their IPCR or the deliverables that they are expected to have,” Dr. Chichioco shared.
Dr. Chichioco also expressed how they monitor and ensure the contributions of the MSGC to the implementation of universal healthcare.
“Our Multi-sector Governance Council is being monitored during our strategy review. They are also part of our scorecard, and there is also the accomplishment…discussed during our regular Multi-sector Governance Council meeting. They are also part [of] the planning of our next projects and deliverables…in the next few years, especially in regards to the completion of our mandated specialty centers,” she said.
The hospital’s progress was not left unnoticed by the panelists. Mr. Ruben Basa, Fe del Mundo Medical Center’s General Manager, commended and expressed his admiration toward JBLMGH.
“It’s really an impressive journey for the last several years, and the hospital administrator says it’s very difficult to navigate after the COVID pandemic. It’s difficult to reignite and to reclaim momentum prior to [the] pandemic and accelerate it with the goals of the universal healthcare,” he said.
Following their conferral of the PGS Proficiency status, Dr. Chichioco received the Gold Trailblazer award. On behalf of the JBLMGH, Dr. Chichioco extended her gratitude to external stakeholders, the panelists, and all their employees.
“With the attainment of the status in the PGS, we have made a significant progress towards achieving the esteemed institutionalization path. However, it is important to note that this milestone does not mark the culmination of our efforts…[but] the commencement of series of more demanding workforce aim at ensuring the viability of JBLMGH’s initiatives to enhance the institutionalized public healthcare process for the Filipinos,” she said in her acceptance speech.
“Through these remarkable accomplishments, it stands as the foundation of our serbisyong may lingap, husay, at malasakit, as the healthcare framework fortifying the JBLMGH into a more robust institution.”
