‘Medical center of choice’

Controversies have marred the Justiniano R. Borja General Hospital (JRBGH) for almost two decades — from the lack of facilities and financial resources to poor management — leaving it to operate in a dismal state.

It has been a long-standing struggle for the hospital administration to improve their services to better serve the public. But now, things are looking up for the local hospital.

“In 2013, when the Moreno administration took over, the team from his Misamis Oriental administration crafted the strategic plan for the hospital, together with key stakeholders, and came out with the vision for JRBGH becoming ‘the nation’s premier local government hospital by 2016 with preferential option for the poor and the underprivileged’,” recounted JRBGH hospital executive officer Dr. Ramon Nery, who also led the team.

Fast forward to 2017, JRBGH’s key stakeholders with the technical assistance of Xavier University – Ateneo de Cagayan’s Governance and Leadership Institute (GLI), reshaped the earlier vision, for 2019.

This revised vision for the city hospital is starting to gain traction as Nery hopes that it will become “a medical center of choice,” equipped to address complicated or tertiary-level medical cases.

The hospital’s status elevation would benefit all people in the socio-economic spectrum, particularly the poor and the marginalized.

“It is the right time to fulfill this shared dream for the city, to have its own medical center with quality services, sustainable financing scheme, equitable benefits for its medical manpower, competent and compassionate medical professionals and staff, and a conducive environment for treating patients,” Nery added.

To illustrate the vision: If a Kagay-anon has a serious or complicated condition, the patient doesn’t need to go to Cebu or Manila or abroad to get the treatment; it will be available at Justiniano R. Borja Medical Center.

Partnerships toward quality healthcare

The vision for the hospital may be ambitious, but Nery is optimistic that this is achievable through Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) and the support of the Department of Health (DOH) and the local health board.

This project aims to help decongest the DOH-owned Northern Mindanao Medical Center (NMMC), which is also located in the city’s busy downtown.

“NMMC being a public medical center could not focus on addressing tertiary-level cases due to the influx of patients with primary and secondary cases, in the midst of the shortage of medical professionals and lack of facilities,” Nery said.

As in other parts of the country, it’s been a culture in public medical centers to try to accommodate as many patients as possible, regardless of case levels, who can’t afford the otherwise expensive treatments in private hospitals and healthcare providers.

Nery’s dream is for the city medical center to become the “primary choice for Kagay-anons” so NMMC can address more patients coming outside Cagayan de Oro City or other parts of northern Mindanao. (pia x)