In the fast-changing healthcare landscape, hospitals must adapt to the evolving needs of their communities. To help address this, the Institute for Solidarity in Asia (ISA) has once again conducted its annual Governance Boot Camp: Master Class for Hospitals (MCH) from September 25 to 27, to share invaluable insights and practical tools to empower healthcare leaders in the country.
With revamped modules tailored to the needs of delegates from DOH-accredited public health institutions, the limited class size of 29 participants in the 2024 MCH at the Savoy Hotel in Pasay City fostered deeper engagement. Co-hosted by ISA’s long-time partners, Bataan General Hospital and Medical Center (BGHMC) and Tondo Medical Center (TMC), the Master Class focused on strategic management, human resource engagement, and effective leadership tailored to the public healthcare context.
To give the delegates a background on ensuring effective and sustainable strategy and financial management, ISA’s go-to budget expert, Ms. Zy-za Nadine Suzara gave the delegates a lecture on strategic management and financial growth in hospitals. In her lecture, she emphasized that there should be a justification behind every budget.
“May kwento sa bawat kwenta,” Ms. Suzara said. “The most important lesson to learn, and possibly the most surprising, is that description dominates the numbers. The [budget request] must describe and justify the plan; the numbers follow from that. Budget is logic, planning, justification, and politics, not mathematics or accounting,” she added.
Moving on to the next segment of the program, Dr. Maria Eufemia Yap, from Thinkwell Philippines delivered her module entitled, “Igniting Institutional Commitment: Driving Engagement for an Empowered and Healthy Workplace.” In her discussion, she emphasized that by leveraging the Civil Service Commission’s PRIME-HR framework and the World Health Organization Healthy Workplace framework, participants can help align the organization with strategic goals, foster a culture of engagement, address gaps in human resource management, and ultimately create a healthier, more productive work environment.
“Don’t forget about the people in your hospital, so they can provide the care the patients need,” Dr. Yap shared. “When you actually engage them, you can find ways to retain them.”
Dr. Yap capped off her session by challenging the audience to go beyond better and bring home a fresh perspective on how they can come up with empowering solutions in the workplace.
“Ang aking hamon sa inyo, pwede niyo bang tingnan ang mga lumang bagay in a new way? See the old things with new eyes, may bagong mga mata, may bagong disposisyon. And I think that’s the whole PGS journey here. You’re being invited to say ‘Why not?’,” she concluded.
Following a day filled with comprehensive discussions, the delegates wound down and engaged in fun games and activities during the Solidarity Night with the theme, “Retro Revival.” Suited up in their retro outfits, the delegates brought back the best of the ‘50s to the 90’s in the nostalgia-filled night.
On the second day of the Master Class for Hospitals, TMC Medical Center Chief, Dr. Isabelita Estrella, along with Office for Strategy Management (OSM) Head, Dr. Jeffrey Castillo delivered an extensive lecture called, “Engaging the LGU for Service Delivery Network (SDN).” In their discussion, the delegates explored TMC’s best practices for fostering strong, sustainable relationships, demonstrating how hospitals and LGUs can work together to create a robust SDN.
During this session, Dr. Castillo gave the audience an overview of strategies to secure the political will and support from LGUs. Among the strategies he shared was to engage the LGUs in decision-making processes as “they are the active stakeholders” too in the transformation journey. The OSM head also shared that being an active partner aligning with the Universal Healthcare Act is also a crucial strategy in establishing this referral system.
“As a collaborator, we want to be seen as an active partner for the establishment of [the] SDN. We need to position ourselves as a very indispensable partner of the LGU in the [Universal Healthcare] in general,” Dr. Castillo emphasized.
This was followed by a best practice sharing session led by Dr. Estrella. During her segment, she shared TMC’s experience with its Health Care Provider Network and the functionality of its referral system during the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Estrella highlighted that fostering strong rapport within the clinical areas within and outside of TMC is vital in creating an efficient SDN. The medical center chief also shared that the network created a positive impact on their service delivery since their referral of primary cases reduced from 23% in 2017 to 4% in the current year.
“We conduct quarterly meetings not only to discuss needs management and outcomes but also to promote camaraderie among ourselves,” she added.
This session was followed by a lecture from Dr. Maria Lourdes Otayza, former Medical Center Chief of Mariano Marcos Memorial Hospital and Medical Center. In her discussion, “Holistic Safety Management in Healthcare” Dr. Otayza began by sharing safety culture actions, where she stressed the importance of implementing their learnings in their work.
“You will not finish this whole course if you do not implement what you learned here; whatever the message is you have to bring it home,” Dr. Otayza said.
Another key point that she mentioned was the personalization of safety outcomes, where clinicians and practitioners should communicate the personal impact of risk processes. She stressed among the delegates that the “injury or fatality is not another anonymous statistic, but a workmate who has a name.”
The final day of the Master Class commenced with a discussion from ISA Fellow and BGHMC Medical Center Chief, Dr. Glory Baltazar, whose lecture focused on crafting a comprehensive program for institutionalizing good governance. Considering that good governance is the cornerstone of a successful healthcare organization, Dr. Baltazar’s module provided the delegates with the necessary tools to implement a governance program that promotes integrity, accountability, and excellence within the organization.
Based on her experience as a medical center chief, she underscored the value of a dedicated workforce. Dr. Baltazar shared that involving and investing in the right people will ensure better outcomes within the organization.
“Serbisyo, hindi negosyo,” Dr. Baltazar said. “You will never go wrong kapag tamang tao ang nilagay niyo,” she said.
Additionally, she supplemented the lecture with tools such as the merit and demerit scorecard, a system developed by BGHMC for rewards and sanctions among employees to ensure patient safety, holistic care, and promotion of patients’ positive experiences. The last module concluded with an open forum and another round of feedbacking led by the speaker.
The MCH ended with the announcement of the winning group, Team Side B Rewind, and the recognition of Mr. Gian Carlo Leoncio from Rizal Medical Center (RizalMed) as the 2024 Master Class for Hospital’s Ultimate Governance Warrior. In his acceptance speech, he thanked his fellow delegates, the event organizers from ISA, and RizalMed for entrusting him to attend the program.
“It has been an advocacy of mine to promote a healthy workplace – a workplace that sustains you, then you can see yourself in service for 30 or 40 years in service, maging haligi ng RizalMed […] and of course, in my discharge from duty, to continue to be an inspiration to other institutions,” Mr. Leoncio concluded.
