Initially, the focus of this partnership program is to help doctors of the provincial government deliver surgical services to patients in different parts of Misamis Oriental more efficiently.

Under an agreement with the provincial government, SMART will provide Internet connectivity to five hospitals in Gingoog, Talisayan, Balingasag, Manticao and Initao.

That agreement was signed Wednesday (Jan. 13) by Misamis Oriental Governor Oscar Moreno and SMART Public Affairs Group Head Ramon Isberto.

Dubbed the mobile surgery services project, this also includes technical support and assistance, including ICT training for hospital staff and personnel who will be involved in the computerization of operations. Internet access will be provided free of charge for one year.

SMART will also supply eight 3G phones to doctors in the mobile surgery team. They will use the handsets to send data on and/or pictures of surgery patients in five provincial hospitals to an operations center in Cagayan de Oro City.

This information will help the mobile surgery team to screen patients and make the necessary preparations to ensure the efficient delivery of surgical services when they visit the different provincial hospitals.

Under its Province-wide Investment Plan for Health, Misamis Oriental has been rehabilitating the buildings and upgrading the facilities and medical personnel services of its seven provincial hospitals.

SMART’s tele-health program is part of its broad community partnership program called Kabalikat.

Under its tele-health program, SMART is also assisting the Physicians for Peace (PFP)-Philippines‘ “Walking Free Program” by providing a mobile phone-and-web application that enables volunteer doctors to assess the readiness of indigent amputees for artificial limbs even before they visit an area.

Called Amputee Screening via CEllphone NeTworking (ASCENT), the application enables PFP to provide real-time evaluation and advice on prosthesis (artificial limb) use for amputees in far-flung communities.

• General Information
• Medical Emergencies
• Insurance for Travelers
• Blood Donation
• Psychiatric Assistance
• Scuba Diving Accidents
• Medical Evacuations
• Hospitals and Medical Facilities in the Philippines
• English Speaking Doctors and Dentists

General Information

The Philippines is a tropical country and as such, diseases that are rare in the U.S. are more common in the Philippines. Depending on the areas that you plan to visit, you may wish to discuss the advisability of obtaining vaccinations for diseases such as Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, Typhoid, and Tetanus.  There are also several prevalent mosquito born diseases such as malaria and dengue fever which can be deadly.  Malaria is not a problem in Manila, but it is prevalent in many rural areas of the Philippines.  Malaria is most problematic on the island of Palawan; here, mefloquine or doxycycline is needed as a prophylactic.  In the other areas, chloroquine alone is recommended.  For additional information, refer to the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) website. This page contains specific advice about malaria prevention in the Philippines by region.

For additional health guidance and a global rundown of diseases, immunization advice and risks in particular countries, please consult the CDC international travelers hotline at 1-877-FYI-TRIP (1-877-394-8747), their automated faxback service at 1-888-CDC-FAXX (1-888-232-3299), or the CDC home page.

Medical Emergencies

If an American citizen becomes seriously ill or injured abroad, a U.S. consular officer can provide information on the location of medical services and inform family or friends.  If necessary, a consular officer can also assist in the transfer of funds (transfer of funds) from the United States to cover hospitalization charges.  However, payment of hospital and other expenses is the responsibility of the traveler.

To facilitate identification in case of an accident, complete the information page on the inside of your passport providing the name, address and telephone number of someone to be contacted in an emergency.  A traveler going abroad with any preexisting medical problems should carry a letter from the attending physician describing the medical condition and any prescription medications, including the generic name of the prescribed drugs.  Any medications brought overseas should be left in their original containers and be clearly labeled.  Travelers should check with a Philippine Embassy/Consulate to make sure any required medications are not illegal in the Philippines.

Insurance for Travelers

Before going abroad, learn what medical services your health insurance will cover overseas.  If your health insurance policy provides coverage outside the United States, remember to carry both your insurance policy identity card as proof of such insurance and a claim form.  Although many health insurance companies will pay “customary and reasonable” hospital costs abroad, very few will pay for your medical evacuation back to the United States.  Medical evacuation from the Philippines can easily cost $10,000 and up, depending on your location and medical condition.

The Social Security Medicare Program does not provide coverage for hospital or medical costs outside the United States.

Blood Donation (RH Negative)

The blood banks at the Makati Medical Center and St. Luke’s Medical Center (both in Metro Manila) maintain lists of possible donors of Rh Negative blood.  In addition, the American Association of the Philippines maintains a similar list of possible donors.

The American Association of the Philippines can be contacted at (02) 892-5198 during normal working hours.  During non-office hours, please contact the Embassy Duty Officer at (02) 301-2000.

Psychiatric Assistance

There are no private facilities in the Manila area that will accept psychiatric patients unless they have first been so certified by a psychiatrist.  In the event a U.S. citizen will not consent to hospitalization, the police or immigration authorities may sometimes take her/him into custody and subsequently transfer her/him to a hospital.

Psychiatric facilities in the Philippines are:

• National Center for Mental Health (NCMH), 9 de Febrero, Mandaluyong, Metro Manila, Tel.:  (02) 531-9001.  (NCMH is a government hospital.)

• Makati Medical Center, 2 Amorsolo Street, Makati, Metro Manila, Tel.: (02)  815-9911.  Makati Medical Center is a private hospital.  However, it has a psychiatric ward for the mentally-ill.  The patient’s bill for board/lodging, excluding professional fees, laboratory tests, and medicine, is approximately P695.00 a day.)

• University of Sto. Tomas (UST) Hospital, Espana, Manila, Tel.: (02) 731-3001.  (UST Hospital is a private hospital.  However, it has a community ward for the mentally-ill.  The patient’s bill for board/lodging, excluding professional fees, laboratory tests, and medicine, is approximately P500.00 a day.)
  

Scuba Diving Accidents

There is one recompression chamber in the Philippines available to treat scuba divers suffering from the bends. It is located at the Subic Yacht Club, Subic, Zambales, Philippines.  The chamber, which has a 3-4 person seating capacity, is open 24 hours.

Contact

Dr. David Calapatia, Calapatia Polymedic Clinic
Tel.:  (047) 222-2002 (H) – 24 hours
(047) 222-9600 (W)
Cellular No.:  0917-512-0320

Subic Yacht Club
Tel.:  (047) 252-5211; (047) 252-2431
(24 hours)

Divers who do not wish to undergo recompression treatment in the Philippines may be able to seek the assistance of the U.S. Navy chamber in Guam, Tel:  (00671) 339-7143.  As in all medical cases, it is the responsibility of the American citizen to arrange transport from the Philippines to Guam.

Medical Evacuations (Medevacs)

In-country Medevacs:  In-country or domestic medical transport of patients from an outlying province to Manila may be accomplished with the assistance of the Manila Rescue Coordination Center (RCC).   RCC provides assistance with in-country medevacs, which it refers to as “Airlift Missions.”  While RCC does not have the resources to conduct the operation itself, it acts as a coordinating body and can refer the request to the appropriate offices.  RCC’s Operations Center is open 24 hours.  Below are telephone numbers for RCC and other Philippine government agencies that can assist with in-country medevacs.

RCC Duty Officer
Tel:  (02) 832-3013; 877-1109, local 3446, 3800, 3030;
759-9502 through 03
Email:  rcc@ats.ato.gov.ph

Air Transportation Office (ATO) Operations
Tel.: (02) 831-6215
Fax:  (02) 833-0127

Philippine Air Force, 505th Search and Rescue Group
(Helicopter Search and Rescue)
Villamor Air Base, Pasay City, Tel:  (02) 853-5013, 853-5121
Laoag City, Ilocos Norte, Tel:  (077) 773-1499 or 773-2402
Tuguegarao, Cagayan, Tel:  (038) 844-1800
Mactan, Cebu,  Tel:  (032) 340-2212
General Santos City, Tel:  (083) 555-0065

Philippine Coast Guard
Operations, Tel.: (02) 527-3870, Fax: 527-3880
Coast Guard Air Group,  Tel.: (02) 832-3756

International Medevacs: Although medical care is generally good in the Philippines, there are conditions for which evacuation to the U.S. may be necessary.  Since a private plane can cost more than $10,000 for a single flight, you may wish to consider obtaining medical evacuation insurance coverage prior to travelling overseas.  There are several companies in the United States that offer such insurance.

Persons needing to be medevaced to the U.S. or other foreign destinations should contact a commercial airline or commercial medical evacuation service.

What’s all the fuzz? Dr. Tagayuna has done more for the Hospital and it’s Personnel and Staff in the past 2 years she served as Chief of Hospital than any of her predecessors who served the same period. She was sweet-talked into running an almost dying institution probably not so much as to save it but more so in the hope of making her a political ally by the way things are going.

However, seeing that her being in her present office is not serving IT’S ORIGINAL PURPOSE but rather going in a different direction notwithstanding that direction is for the good of the institution and of it’s staff and clientele, she is being ordered to vacate her office in the pretense of being needed elsewhere for her leadership.

If the appointing office really believes in her capabilities as a leader, they will retain her in her present office and not put her at some imaginary station where she is supposed to be of better service. That reasoning may go unchallenged by the run of the mill folks whose loyalties can be easily bought by a handful of pesos but to expect the honest intelligent worker to believe that, is definitely an insult.

Dr. Tagayuna has her eye on the future of J.R. Borja General City Hospital. She hopes she can make a difference and leave a legacy for the succeeding generations of patients who will benefit from such changes. She is even willing to die for it but apparently others “entities” have set their sight on the hospital too and one can only wonder what they see.

What do they see? Do they see a leader who can bring the hospital to greater heights or do they see an obstacle to their own purposes? Do they see the health workers serving more than they are required to, under substandard condition, being exposed to communicable diseases with inadequate protection and no hazard fee? Or do they see sweatshops where they can cut down on benefits and save money for other projects? Do they see the father who is the breadwinner of the family laying sick in a worn out bed? Do they see the mother of 10 children taking care of a sick baby? Do they see a 10 year-old child wondering what he will do with the prescription in his hand because there is no medicine available in the hospital pharmacy? Or do they see that at least none of them are their fathers, neither their mothers, nor their sons nor their daughters? Do they see the sick who seek the comforts of the hospital or do they only see what the hospital can give back to the City?

Who took it upon themselves to be responsible for caring for the people? Do you? We at J.R. Borja General City Hospital do! That’s why we cannot just sit down and let anybody take away from us, a good leader who has given this hospital a direction. She boosted the staff’s morale that had been hanging low in the past several years and pulling her out means pulling everyone’s morale down.

If the goal is to make everyone subservient to the whims of a self-seeking power then the hope for change will be crushed. How long can one keep on banging his head against the wall if the wall does not give in? Until he finds another way to survive without banging his head on the wall.

I have worked in the hospital for almost three years now. With my training, I thought I could make a difference. On my own I found out I could not. It took the presence of a passionate leader to help realize some of those hopes. Suddenly, going to work is not so much of a burden anymore knowing what we are doing is not going to waste. While we still lack equipment to give the most basic of services, while we are still short on supplies, while some of our basic benefits are still not given to us, we can work thinking, all those problems are workable and someday the solutions will be found by the right person/s with the right attitude.

Health should be a priority that is not affected by biases, pride, and powerplay. Dr. Dures Tagayuna is the man for the job as Chief of the J.R. Borja General City Hospital. Remove her from the helm and the hospital will be like a ship without a Captain, driven wherever the wind fancies it to go. If you want to save the hospital put Dr. Tagayuna at the helm.

DR. RICHEL BACOT
Medical Officer IV
J.R. Borja General Hospital
Cagayan de Oro City
Mindanao

Mabuhay from PGH, the Philippines’ 102-year old national tertiary referral center and teaching hospital of UP Manila (The Health Sciences Center) that includes the UP College of Medicine, UP College of Nursing, UP College of Dentistry and allied colleges. It is the largest government hospital administered by the UP System (not by the Department of Health); occupies 10 hectares of prime Manila real estate, 45 interconnected and stand-alone buildings, and 125,000 square meters of floor area; consists of 19 clinical departments distributed in the in- and outpatient sections, 1500 patient beds (1000 charity, 500 pay and special units); and includes modernized and upgraded service, training and research facilities, the latest of which are emergency and radiodiagnostic complexes, the National Eye Referral Center (Sentro Oftalmologico Jose Rizal) and the soon-to-operate Faculty Medical Arts Building (FMAB), among others.

Since its creation by Philippine Commission Act 1688 on August 17, 1907 and subsequent opening to the public on September 1, 1910 with 300 beds, PGH stood by s — its noble purpose of providing quality health care to the Filipino people especially to the underserved. From 1985 to 1991, PGH underwent a major renovation and expansion program, necessitating a dramatic increase in manpower, hospital services and equipment. Today, PGH boasts of about 4000 medical and non-medical employees, a wide array of general, subspecialty and cutting-edge services, and complete support programs and facilities that enable it to render comprehensive quality care to both healthy and sick Filipinos, in particular the indigent and marginalized.

Our shared vision for 2004-2009 says it all: “We are a community of first-rate, highly-energized, socially-responsible healthcare professionals and workers collectively enhancing the national and international image of UP-PGH as the national university hospital showcasing excellence and leadership in client service, training, research and governance”. We go by the battlecry “Tatak PGH Plus” and the simple objectives of (1) delivering what is core in our abovecited four areas of engagement, (2) raising the bar, and (3) setting and achieving leadership targets. We are guided by core values/initiatives which are expressed as slogans: excellence, leadership, basic courtesy and professionalism in the workplace (“magaling na, magalang pa”, “bagong anyo”), along with thriftiness, resourcefulness and loyalty (“iwas waldas”, “dagdag kita”, “magmalasakit, PGH muna”), and patient and environment safety (“malinis at ligtas tayo sa PGH”). We celebrated our Centennial Year from August 17, 2006 to August 17, 2007, and beyond that pledged to (1) sustain, enhance and share PGH’s best practices and successful initiatives; (2) pursue priority project – human resource enrichment, personnel welfare and incentives, quality management systems improvement and modernization/rehabilitation; and (3) benchmark PGH with the best national university hospitals in Asia and the world. On our shoulders fall the daunting tasks of preparing PGH for the second 100 years of its glorious existence. This includes massive rehabilitation of existing physical plant, a multi-storey building housing new facilities, top-of-the-line hospital equipment, fully-computerized systems, a markedly improved human resource management program and a sustainable ISO certification. With the wellspring of support from the National Government, the university, our philanthropic pool of governmental, non-governmental and private groups and individuals here and abroad, and most of all the Filipino public, PGH will be able to celebrate a meaningful and momentous centenary.

On to the next “100 Years of Excellence and Leadership in Quality Healthcare for the Filipino”!
Carmelo A. Alfiler, MD Director, Philippine General Hospital