Leveling up government hospitals
Many still have an image of government hospitals as lower than private hospitals in terms of equipment, facilities and staff. Yet if we look at the total population of hospitals in the country, government hospitals may be far ahead of the average private hospitals and in terms of specialized hospitals, they are considered as leading the pack.
Considering the multitude of patients that troop to the National Kidney and Transplant Institute (NKTI), the Heart Center, the Lung Center and even the pinnacle of the national health system, the Philippine General Hospital, one can state without contradiction that the doctors, residents and interns as well as support staff are the more experienced, better trained and more research-oriented than other hospitals. As the noted author, Malcolm Gladwell in his book, “Outliers” pointed out, one becomes an expert repeating the same process (decision and action) in the same situation. What is true in sports (golf, basketball) is also true in medicine (a doctor doing an operation a thousand times, all things being equal, will be better than one who has just done four or five so far). The same is true for the support staff. In research, one needs a sufficient number of cases to be able to establish the validity of observations and the credibility of one’s research hypothesis.
It is in the equipment and facilities, where government hospitals have to be supported to become at par with leading private hospitals like St. Luke’s in Global and the Makati Medical Center. Yet it is encouraging to note that the existing government specialized hospitals through partnerships with the private sector have been able to level up.
One example is the NKTI’s first and only Position emission tornography (PET) and computerized (CT) hybrid imaging center in a government hospital and third among all over the country in collaboration with KHealth Corporation. PET/CT are both state-of-the-art imaging tools that allow doctors to pinpoint the location and extent of cancers within the body before making treatment recommendations. PET scan imaging gives information about the biology of disease at the molecular level, while the CT scan provides a detailed picture of the body’s internal anatomy. The combination of these two well-established imaging into a single scan that provides doctors better information of cancer to more accurately diagnose, localize, stage and monitor the effects of treatment.
In line with a vision of state-ofthe-art healthcare for all, the PET/CT studies at NKTI are most affordable, with a price that is highly competitive locally and even when compared with contemporaries in Hong Kong and Singapore, making it reachable to a greater number of Filipino cancer patients. The commitment of NKTI to the improvement of the health conditions of the Filipino masses is reflected in its array of services, especially during June, the National Kidney Month. There will be free kidney check for 400 patients at 100 first patients every Friday of the month; a two day Community outreach; deceased organ donation lectures in Visayas and Mindanao; and medical missions.
One of the reasons why other Filipino hospitals have not been able to install and provide PET/CT scan service is not the high cost of the equipment but mostly due to the limited supply of radiopharmaceuticals (FDG). The Medical Cyclotron Facility at the NKTI producing PET FDGs that comply with both local and international good manufacturing practices (GMP) will be able to provide such for more than 30 hospitals in all parts of the country. This will ensure better diagnostic procedures for cancer patients who are incapable of travelling due to their sensitive conditions.
Government hospitals, like NKTI deserve greater budgetary support from the incoming Duterte administration in order for the leveling up of health services to the Filipino masses.
Thanks. My gratitude to the NKTI hospital administator and staff and especially, Dr. Dennis Serrano, surgeon, Dr. Ernesto Sancho Castillo, anesthesia and the team (who ensured that my heart, lungs, etc. were at par for the operation) Dr. Areefah Adiong, Dr. Joselito Chavez, Dr. Enrico Ragaza, Dr. Dodee Nino Rigor, Dr. Pepito dela Peña and Dr. Arsenio Claro Cabungcal and the readers (Drs. Adiong, Rigor, Ma. Regina Tuble, Michael Salvador Cabato, Fernando Caguete, Joel Mendoza, Angelo Martinez, Juanito Billote and Gerardo Silva) for my successful surgery last May 28.
melito.jr@gmail.com