DERICE SUMANTRI

DERICE SUMANTRI, the President Director of Progress Healthcare, talks with Liviani Putri about the spirit of serving and her leadership style in what is perhaps the most trying times for a healthcare professional

A sense of urgency

When media coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic started in earnest, it had the unintended – and unfortunate – side effect of raising public fear of going to hospitals. This is something that Derice Sumantri, President Director of Progress Healthcare, deeply regrets. “This unfortunate situation has led to many late admittances of cases such as heart attacks, stroke and other illnesses with the same urgency,” Derice points out. “So, to continue to care for our patients, together with our wonderful team of specialists, we now mobilize hospital care at home through the Royal Medical Concierge service program, which includes vaccination and special needs programs for children, pre and post pregnancy visits, and scheduled monthly visits for the elderly and palliative care.”

Royal Progress Hospital is the first private hospital in Jakarta that provides primary, secondary and tertiary medical services along with Centres of Excellence for Women’s Health, Sports Medicine and Ophthalmology. Located in the heart of North Jakarta, the hospital has been operating since 1991 based on the spirit of serving with love and compassion, and defined by the commitment to continuous improvement in medical excellence, facilities and community programs.

Derice – who graced the cover of Prestige back in 2013 – shares that she is currently busy managing the adaptation process to the new normal, both in terms of business and also in her personal life. “There are so many changes to the way we live, move, work and interact with one another. The economic impact from the pandemic has required all business leaders to take action to ensure that our companies stay afloat,” she elaborates. “It’s so important that we continue to provide jobs and at the same time to be mindful and kind.”

Even though Royal Progress Hospital decided not to accept COVID-19 patients in order to continue serving the community at large in a safe manner, it is still offering early detection and PCR tests by opening the.. laboratory facilities with global standards. “We are so blessed to have wonderful partnerships with our doctors, allowing us to open the first private biomolecular microbiology lab for COVID-19 PCR tests,” Derice adds. “This has allowed us to provide early detection of COVID-19 and thus guide any COVID-19 positive patients toward early symptom management for COVID-19 care in our partner hospitals, while still being able to safely provide the myriad medical services required by our existing patients on a day to day basis. “

As a leader, her sense of urgency sprang up when the outbreak first happened. “It was set as my default mode from being aware of the oncoming pandemic and it gave me a head start to communicate a new survival path to my medical team,” Derice elaborates. “Healthcare now requires an escalating standard of patient safety that must be paired with urgency, transparency, awareness and empathy. For anyone in a leadership position, there is no place for fear, uncertainty or fatigue. It has become the most important time in our lives to get all of our nuts and bolts in order for us to continue to be effective leaders.”

Together with her management team, Derice, who holds a bachelor’s degree in Commerce from the University of Sydney, directly raised the safety standards at the hospital without exception: “Royal Progress Hospital is very lucky to have an experienced infectious disease control team which enabled us to mobilize a COVID-19 taskforce very quickly. We executed international standards for screening to ensure we help infected patients get placement in other hospitals while still being able to swiftly process our usual patients without cross contamination, we executed infectious disease control best practices – including the use of PPE – in the hospital and for all of our on-site medical check-ups and COVID-19 screening events, then we provided the right patient education on COVID-19 and created a consulting pandemic mitigation program for our clients to help them transition into the new norm.”

With standards in place, it was time to put them in practice. “We are doing constant surveillance and monitoring to coach staff and patients on hygiene and sanitation as well as our wellness program. Changing behaviours and emphasizing discipline has been our biggest challenge,” Derice concedes. “But I felt lucky to be partnering with a like-minded multifunctional team of specialists and consultants who believe in driving wellness and preventative healthcare programs. These programs are now imperative for all of us to include in our lives to prevent COVID-19, thereby keeping our families and our workplace safe. “

With all of the aforementioned procedures and standards in place, there are bound to be people who are still concerned about the basic idea of going to hospitals. “It is the most important time in your life to tie up all loose ends when it comes to healthcare,” Derice addresses this issue. “I think it is imperative to understand when we make a decision to be in a public space, we must mitigate our risk by patronizing businesses that adhere to proper safety protocols, while also adhering to them ourselves by measuring the health and screening standards of the service staff in places we go to, the safety of the environment we will move in. Specifically, for healthcare, if the clinic you usually go to refers to a hospital that now is a COVID-19 referral hospital, it is important to decide today if you are okay with that. “

She continues: “People should understand out what the correct PPE standards are in places because it’s different between us, the common people and those who are working in the service sector, for example. Just the other day, I went to a restaurant in South Jakarta where the chefs wore black cloth masks and half the team had their noses exposed. Wearing a mask in public is good to keep everyone safe, but wearing a cloth mask in the kitchen and not wearing it property is unacceptable as droplets can go through and effect food handling standards.”

Derice also raised a number of points concerning early detection and tests. “Screening is also something that we will just have to accept as being a part of our lives until a vaccine is available,” she explains. “This raises the importance of clearly understanding that every time you screen for COVID-19, you have shared your personal data. Privacy and trust in the facilities you chose to test at should be deciding factors when choosing your healthcare providers from this point onwards.”

Working in the healthcare industry, Derice is driven by the survival stories from her grandparents about their forefathers in the past, particularly in terms of their sense of ethical leadership and their mission of becoming part of the solution. “Both my grandparents and parents have always emphasized the importance of being productive members of society and I have always preferred to serve than to be served,” she says. “It has been very important to me to make this world a better place whichever way I can. Our healthcare division believes in patient-centric care. This means we provide certainty during these uncertain times.” She also shares that family support is the fuel that keeps going every day: “I have a relentlessly caring brothers, a hands-on husband and two children (and my aunts) who understand that managing the hospital has to be my priority right now.”

Derice began her career in the healthcare industry back then in 2007 as the CEO of Royal Progress Hospital in the healthcare division. “Working with people who have dedicated their careers to improving the health of patients is inspirational,” she recalls. “The trust and hope from our patients are what motivates me the most. My outlook and perspective on healthcare changed when I became a mother

“For anyone in a leadership position, there is no place for fear, uncertainty or fatigue. It has become the most important time in our lives to get all of our nuts and bolts in order for us to continue to be effective leaders”

in 2014. It became even more important for me to make sure that patients feel respected, and that they are ensured the right to comprehensive care and dependable standards from the beginning to the end of life.”

Living in these unprecedented times with plenty of challenges, Derice is most hopeful that Indonesians can become a much healthier society. “This is the best way to lower the risk of contracting with the virus. Having a good immune system is important and it can be achieved by consuming the right nutrition, regular exercise, managing hygiene and sanitation, as well as through mental wellness,” explains Derice. In facing the new norm, she says that people need to embrace the changes and prepare to move on with the new way of living. “Keep yourself informed by listening to experts in relevant fields, including microbiology and infectious disease. We are lucky that we have Dr. dr. Latre Buntaran, SpMK, a microbiologist specialist who has worked with viruses for more than 40 years. When you need to make informed decisions during a medical pandemic, then it would be best to ask the right doctor.”

All in all, we certainly think that we’ve also asked the right person to share her insight in these trying times.