A people’s hospital
AFEW years ago, the Asian Insitute of Management (AIM) released a study showing that Makati had the highest spending per capita among local governments in the country at 12,336.15. In dollar terms, Makati spends US$70 per capita on health care for our residents, more than the US$43 per capita spent by the Philippine government.
Aside from the full membership benefits from PhilHealth and the Yellow Card, Makati extends a wide range of medical services from maternal and child care to elderly care, free outpatient consultations, and free medicines. Ensuring the health of citizens minimizes their need to seek hospital treatment.
But should they need to go to a hospital, our citizens can always go to the Ospital ng Makati (OsMak) in Barangay Pembo.
The idea to set up our own hospital was suggested in 1988 by my wife, Dr. Elenita Binay – a doctor of medicine who was later elected as mayor of Makati – to accomodate the growing number of Yellow Card members who were being turned away at the Makati Medical Center for lack of beds. At that time, Makati Med was Makati’s program partner.
The Ospital ng Makati was initially located on Malugay Street in Barangay Bel-Air. OsMak then provided trreatment for residents with non-critical ailments like low-risk pregnancies and deliveries, and minor surgeries.
Eventually I decided to construct a tertiary hospital in barangay Pembo in 2001. The decision to open a fullservice was not an easy one. You just don’t build a hospital for the sake of bragging rights, or just to say you have your own hospital.
Let’s admit to one painful truth: With very few exceptions, public hospitals are poorly managed and inefficient. When you talk of efficiency in hospital management, you generally refer to private hospitals. But private hospitals are “for profit” institutions and this is why a proposal during the previous administration to “privatize” public hospitals met strong opposition. There was no gurantee that the services will remain accesible to the poor, who are the principal clients of public hospitals.
Public health is an obligation of government. But it does not mean that public hospitals cannot use private sector-style management and maintain facilities and equipment like private hospitals.
Like everything else we did in Makati, I wanted a hospital that meets the highest standards of service and professionalism. I wanted a hospital funded by the local government with services and facilities compatible with private hospitals.
I decided to tap the expertise of friends in the private sector who are also respected health practitioners.
Among the private practitioners who gave indisensable advice was the late Dr. Ernie Santos. Doctor Santos trained and pacticed at Makati Med and was considered one of the country’s leading cardiologists. He was a consultant but later, upon my request, became OsMak director. Much of what OsMak has become owes to his ideas and inputs.
The first few years of OsMak were not easy ones. These were birthing pains, so to speak. The turnaround began when we decided to align OsMak to global standards of excellence. In 2008, OsMak applied for certification from the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), an independent organization with over 160 member-countries which sets international standards for products, technology, and services, among others. The city leadership agreed to the standards set by the ISO. We drew up and implemented our plan to meet these standards.
Representatives from ISO came to Makati to audit the hospital’s services and facilities. After 10 months, OsMak received its ISO certification for Quality Management System. OsMak was ISO-certified for disposition of patients at the Emergency Room made within six hours; admission process completed within 20 minutes; period of transaction from billing to discharge within one day; laboratory results for in-patients and ER patients obtained within two to three hours; and radiology results within two days.
In 2012, OsMak was also accredited by Philhealth as a Center of Exellence. This was the first time a local government unit hospital was awarded that distinction for meeting 95 percent of the criteria set by PhilHealth.
Over the years, OsMak worked to further improve in-patient clinical and medical management, and out-patient services. The hopsital acquired the latest medical equipment and invested in facilities to further upgrade the quality of care received by patients.
On July 21 this year, OsMak opened its own Eye Center. The stateof-the-art facility boasts the latest equipment for treatment as well as corrective eye surgical procedures.
With services and facilities at par, if not better than the majority of private hospitals in Metro Manila, OsMak is indeed a cut above the rest. Patients can expect fast registration and electronic appointment; fast and secure transport of medicines, specimens, and documents; first class equipment, efficient management of health records and documentation, and top-notch EMS or ambulance services.
This year, the city government earmarked a budget of 12.79 billion for OsMak’s further upgrading and expansion.
I am also glad to learn that OsMak is now considered a training facility for health professionals. It has accredited residency programs in Internal Medicine, Surgery, Pediatrics, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Emergency Medicine, Anaesthesia, Head and Neck Surgery, Pathology, Radiology, and Ophthalmology.
From a humble hospital with less than 100 beds, OsMak is now a 300bed hospital, with a staff composed of skilled and experienced consultants, surgeons, and residents committed to providing quality health care service with utmost courtesy.
From January to June, OsMak served a monthly average of 1,100 in-patients, 13,144 out-patients, and 7,475 emergency room patients. OsMak has become a respected medical institution even among nonresidents. Over the years, OsMak has extended medical care to residents of Pasig, Pateros, and Taguig. It is always Makati’s pleasure to help our fellow Filipinos.