LEADING THE PACK
LEADING a hospital that caters to thousands of patients and employs hundreds of personnel is no easy task.
In 2008, Dr. Leopoldo J. Vega took the reigns as Medical Center Chief to lead the Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC), which was still called the Davao Medical Center (DMC).
That was after Vega served as the medical director of the Davao Medical School Foundation from 2004 to 2008.
"It has been very challenging," Vega said, adding that there were a lot of challenges that he had to overcome while running the hospital.
He said after being in the medical field for over 30 years, he was exposed to the gaps in health services.
For example he noted that when he was a resident of general surgery of the then DMC from 1981 to 1985, he witnessed how deprived the people were in terms of health care. He also noted that it was during those times when Davao City was going through its worst peace and order problems.
"We witnessed several times during my residency of shootings inside the hospital," he said, adding that he also saw good doctors and nurses leave for greener pastures.
Vega said when he took over the government hospital in 2008, the memories of the 80s were still fresh in his mind.
"My focus when running the hospital is to make sure we will be able to give better access to the patients," he said.
Vega said in order to provide the best services for the patients, part of their strategy was to improve the hospital's facilities, infrastructure, human resource, financial capability, and information technology.
After nearly a decade of serving SPMC as a medical center chief, the hospital now is the country's largest medical facility giving patients all over Mindanao access to quality government health services of all disciplines.
Despite coming from a family of lawyers, a young Leopoldo J. Vega has envisioned himself taking a different career path that will also help people.
Prior to deciding to take the medical path, Vega was also looking into the possibility of going into priesthood. Eventuallly he decided to choose the path of becoming a doctor.
He earned his Bachelor of Arts in General Studies at the Ateneo de Manila University. Then he pursued his medical degree at the University of the East Ramon Magsaysay Medical Center and earned his medical degree in 1979.
Having the true heart of a Dabawenyo, he decided to come back for post-graduate internship and complete his general surgery training at the then Davao Medical Center from 1981-1985. That was when DMC instituted a training program for surgeons under its erstwhile Surgery Department Chief Dr. Ting Tiongco.
It was with Dr. Tiongco that he got into the concept of operating cooperative hospitals in the early 1990s. The health sector was not at its best in Davao City at that time. Private hospitals were crippled by labor strikes, the DMC was understaffed and overbooked. Even health professionals were getting the raw end of the deal. Thus, the idea of putting up health institutions where both patients and personnel become stakeholders. The hospital cooperative movement is still going strong to this day, and Dr. Vega carries with him the lessons of those years with him as he leads SPMC to become the premier government hospital that it is today.
Vega’s commitment to lifelong learning and further honing his skills led him to complete a fellowship in thoracic and cardiovascular surgery at the Philippine Heart Center in 1987.
Having utilized his surgical skills to improve the lives of patients needing cardiac surgery he went on to start a career in administration.
He earned his MBAH degree from Ateneo de Manila professional schools (Rockwell Center) in 2010.
"Being a doctor is a very fulfilling job. It is one profession where you can do so much and get a fulfilling kind of feeling after you are all done with the things you like to do for your patient," Vega said.