Bataan General Hospital (BGH) took a huge leap as it officially embarked in the journey of adopting the Performance Governance System last April 2018. After two (2) months of preparation, BGH was able to unlock another milestone by participating in the Initiation-Compliance Revalida organized by the Institute for Solidarity in Asia (ISA) held last June 14, 2018 at the MK TAN Auditorium , Bayanihan Center, Pasig City, Metro Manila. The said event was attended by the BGH PGS Core Team headed by the Medical Center Chief Dr. Glory V. Baltazar.
The event was an avenue for the hospital to present its strategy for a transformative governance as presented by Dr. Baltazar before an esteemed set of panel headed by Ms. Melinda de Jesus (Panel Chair) and Mr. Francisco Eizmendi (Vice Chair) together with their members Dr. Linda Buhat, Ms. Frances E. Mamaril and Mr. Rafael Soli. The presentation emphasized the institution’s targets and plans backed by its distressed past and the current condition of the community. This was followed by a question and answer portion which highlighted BGH’s strengths and challenges in achieving its vision as pointed out by the panel members.
THE ROAD BLOCKS
More of primary than tertiary cases
By virtue of Republic Act 8561, BGH mandate is to serve as the referral hospital of all district hospitals, rural health units and other LGUs in the province. However, for the past years BGH is still being flooded with primary health cases (86.66%) and still being poorly trusted when it comes to addressing tertiary cases (13.33%). This has been attributed to poor gatekeeping mechanism in the grass root worsened by poor public information.
More patients than beds
In 2017, BGH had an occupancy rate of 184.57% for 214 authorized bed capacity. At first glance, this data alone entail a huge gap between what BGH is now and what it is ought to become in order to serve the needs of the community. But the real problem lies not in the capacity of BGH to accommodate patients but the nature of patients it serves. For the past years, majority of the patients admitted in BGH are patients with primary cases (83%) which supposed to be addressed by lower level health facilities.
TO BUILD FROM STRENGTHS
Clear Strategy Map
A clear vision backed by evidence-based targets and impact areas, core processes and values provided BGH with a comprehensive Strategy Map which will serve as a road map in realizing its vision of becoming the leading and trusted multi-specialty medical center in the region.
Established Multi-Sector Governance Council (MSGC)
In the span of two (2) months, BGH through its Office of Strategic Management, was able to identify and organized a core group committed to promote and advocate BGH services – the MSGC. The council is composed of leaders from different organization and agencies both in the private and public sector. As part of its strategy, BGH MSGC will serve as a key element in addressing the issue of gatekeeping and lack of awareness about the BGH competencies through public information.
Functional Service Delivery Network (SDN)
Take it from the grass roots. In order to address the issue of poor gatekeeping, BGH created a program solely designed for the purpose of alleviating BGH from being congested with primary cases. SDN protocol is a referral system which allows municipal health facilities to deliver primary health care services at their level and instantly refer tertiary cases to BGH online. Ensured compliance to gatekeeping system backed by a provincial ordinance and sustainable funding and regulation from PhilHealth, SDN will not only reduce the long patient queuing but eventually provide BGH the opportunity maximize its resources in treating patients with tertiary cases.
Licensed Level III Hospital
In the adaptation of the PGS, BGH also aligned its strategies with the demand of becoming a multi-specialty medical center especially in terms of facilities and manpower. Recently, BGH has been officially given the license to operate as a Level 3 hospital with authorized capacity of 400 beds. This increased capacity ensures BGH with sufficient resources to realize its targets and plans especially in addressing the issue of high occupancy rate.
Under the evaluation and assessment of the ISA panel members, BGH garnered an average rating 8.54 with the following rates per criteria:
Criteria Average Rating
- Presence of Compelling Strategic Position 8.40
- Articulation of the Strategy 8.20
- Formation of the PGS Core Team 8.50
- Creation of the Office for Strategy Management 8.70
- Cascading of the Strategy to Lower-level Units 8.60
- Creation of Multi-Sector Governance Council 8.90
- Plans Moving Forward 8.48
Overall, Bataan General Hospital was able to receive its conferment into Initiation and Compliance Stages with a Silver Trailblazer Award with a record-breaking span of two (2) months.