By Alithea De Jesus
The country’s premier hospital Makati Medical Center (MakatiMed) received the Excellence Award for Patient Safety from the 2020 Asian Hospital Management Awards (AHMA), and has been selected for a special recognition for the International Hospital Federation (IHF) Beyond the Call of Duty for COVID-19 program.
MakatiMed won the AHMA Excellence Award for its MMC: Beyond Malasakit – the Hospital with a Stronger Heart for best practices in its COVID-19 response. According to Rose Onilongo, AHMA 2020 Conference Manager, “This year, we received 200 entries from 89 hospitals in 16 countries. Winning the Gold or Excellence awards is recognition that the entry was the most outstanding for this category in the region.”
IHF, on the other hand, commended MakatiMed for its demonstration of outstanding efforts in response to the coronavirus pandemic. The hospital joins the select roster of awardees from 27 different countries around the world.
The Asian Hospital Management Awards is a prestigious ceremony that recognizes and honors hospitals in the Asia Pacific. Now on its 19th year, it runs alongside the Hospital Management Asia conference, and is the most prominent hospital management awards in the region.
The International Hospital Federation is an international not for profit, non-governmental membership organization. Headquartered in Geneva Switzerland, IHF counts worldwide hospitals and healthcare among its members, and provides a platform for the exchange of knowledge and strategic experience, as well as opportunities for international collaborations with different actors in the health sector.
As one of the hospitals at the forefront of the pandemic, MakatiMed found itself in a central role with the first surge of COVID-19 patients back in March and April. With the timely and effective implementation of protocols, and collaboration among doctors across demographic and expertise, the hospital, led by Medical Director Dr. Saturnino Javier, was able to respond quickly to manage the influx of cases and ensure the safety and welfare of patients and frontliners.
MakatiMed consistently posted a high rate of recovery for the COVID-19 patients it has under its care. As of October 16, the numbers stand as such for the hospital: 5,321 cases, 140 deaths (2.6%), and 5,072 recoveries (95%).
“The team was very responsive, literally on-call 24/7. Each of them was meticulous to each item that was raised,” says Artemio Cabrera Salvador, MD, one of the proponents who facilitated the review and overall coordination of the project, and monitored the end-to-end processes of the activities. With the rest of the MakatiMed COVID-19 Task Force, he saw through that the hospital initiatives are properly implemented, providing safe and quality healthcare to both patients and healthcare workers.
MakatiMed President & CEO Atty. Pilar Nenuca Almira says of the recognitions, “These achievements only show how we are as a Team in achieving our goals and ensuring that the Safety of our Patients is the Number One priority of MakatiMed.”
For more information, please contact MakatiMed On-Call at +632.8888 8999, email mmc@makatimed.net.ph, or visit www.makatimed.net.ph.
