Despite previous issues with overcrowding and limited resources, a major healthcare institution in the Zamboanga Peninsula has recently been recognized with a Gold Trailblazer Award for efforts in delivering affordable specialized healthcare in the region.
During a public revalida with the Institute for Solidarity in Asia (ISA), the Zamboanga City Medical Center (ZCMC) achieved Compliant Status on October 18 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 (DOH), among others.
ZCMC Medical Center Chief II, Dr. Afdal B. Kunting, presented the hospital’s governance journey towards its transformation into an “800-bed Regional Apex Hospital with advanced comprehensive capability in Mental Health and basic comprehensive capability in Neonatology, Toxicology and Biomarine, Geriatrics, Ear, Nose and Throat Care, and Physical Rehabilitation Medicine serving the Zamboanga Peninsula and beyond”.
Dr. Kunting highlighted the medical center’s now fully functional four specialty centers, each responding to the increasing healthcare demands of a population exceeding five million. Its Cancer Center, which handled a whopping 3,077 cases by mid-2024, up from 800 in 2022, expanded its capacity just in time to address the surge in cases. The Infectious Disease and Tropical Medicine Center provides state-of-the-art diagnostics, with its laboratory ranked among the best nationally and globally in the external quality assessment scheme. Additionally, the Toxicology Center is rapidly evolving into a comprehensive facility, with ZCMC aiming to transform the center from a basic to an advanced comprehensive toxicology center.
Lastly, its Advanced Comprehensive Mental Health Center has made ZCMC the first hospital in Mindanao to offer modified electroconvulsive therapy, a critical treatment for difficult-to-manage psychiatric cases. In response to the alarming rise in suicide rates, ZCMC also established the “Tatag-Isip Inter-Agency Network”, with support from Zamboanga City Mayor John Dalipe through ZCMC’s Multi-Sectoral Governance Council (MSGC), a group of external stakeholders created as advised by ISA to help the public institution pursue its reform agenda.
“This is a community-based brain health and psychosocial service codified with a City Ordinance,” Dr. Kunting said. “The network’s mass media component, launched in 2023 increased our advocacy reach [from] 4,967 face-to-face consultations in 2022 to 7,292 in 2023. We are on track to reach 8,000 in 2024.”
The revalida panel, chaired by Dr. Maria Linda G. Buhat, President Emeritus of the Association of Nursing Service Administrators of the Philippines, praised the hospital for its innovative approach to engaging stakeholders at the community level, which ultimately contributed to the hospital receiving the Gold Trailblazer Award.
In his acceptance speech, Dr. Kunting expressed heartfelt gratitude to ISA, the panelists, and the hospital staff, recognizing their tireless efforts to serve the vulnerable populations in the region.
“This achievement po is a testament to the dedication and hard work, the perseverance, the selflessness, of our staff. We have indeed gone a long way,” Dr. Kunting said. “The poor, the sick, and the vulnerable should know that in their darkest and lowest moments, ZCMC will be there for them.”
