The Medical Mission Group Hospital & Health Services (MMG) Cooperative of the Philippines, Puerto Princesa Chapter THE COOP First organized in 1993 by Dr. John Mendoza and registered with the Cooperative Development Agency of the Philippine government, it was not until 1996 that they were able to secure enough members and a rented structure that the hospital group became operational. Dr. Mendoza was the unanimously elected Chairman of the Board of Directors. In 1998, due to pressing health reasons, Dr. Mendoza relinquished his chairmanship of the Board of Directors and picked Dr. Alvin P. Timbancaya as his replacement. His choice was honored and ratified by the Board. And in recognition of Dr. Mendoza’s invaluable contribution to the Cooperative, he was elected as a lifetime member of the Board of Directors as well as Chairman Emeritus. When it became apparent that the lease on their rented premises will not be renewed, the Board authorized Dr. Alvin P. Timbancaya to undertake the development of a hospital-owned facility including the purchase of the necessary land and supervision of the construction. The Cooperative moved to its own facility with a 25-bed capacity. With the assistance of Ma. Luisa L. Timbancaya, who at the time already had a licensed laboratory, the Coop was able to facilitate the licensing of its laboratory under her supervision. Dr. Mendoza’s vision and goal was to have a hospital that would provide quality and affordable healthcare services to the community and the people of Palawan in general. Dr. Timbancaya was determined to build upon and sustain that vision and make the Coop the most well-equipped, sophisticated and cost-effective diagnostic center in Palawan. With his pioneering spirit still evident, Dr. Mendoza and his brothers (Higinio (Buddy) Jr., Russsel, Dave) provided the seed money of One million and with the approval of the Board of Directors, the Coop acquired and installed the first ever CTScan in Puerto Princesa and in the whole province of Palawan. In the past, patients in need of a CTScan, had to make expensive trips to Manila to have this diagnostic procedure performed. The CTScan as well as the other diagnostic equipment provides services not only to patients in the Coop but the patients of other hospitals and doctors. A second CTScan, a newer model, was added and the older model was kept and maintained as a back-up unit to make sure that the hospital’s ability to perform the service is not interrupted by any breakdown. All data point to the wisdom of emphasizing quality and availabiliity of modern diagnostic equipment. Computerization of all hospital and patient records were immediately undertaken. Records are available to all doctors and staff with authorized access at all stations. This has definitely improved patient tracking. Patient specimens are bar-coded for accurate tracking and elimination of mistakes. Redundant checks are also in place to further avoid costly mistakes. This in turn has improved and increased overall efficiency, cost control and billing accuracy. It did not take long before it became apparent that there is a critical need to expand the premises in order to accomodate the increase of patients coming from all parts of Palawan, as far away as Balabac in the south and Busuanga in the north. It was fortuitous that at that time, Mr. Jose C. Alvarez, an entrepreneur desirous of doing some community outreach, saw an opportunity in the area of health services, especially delivering much needed services to the most needy in Palawan. He organized a private medical mission to do just that and decided to coordinate with the MMG Cooperative as the most practical way of accomplishing his goals. He even built a building to house the initial patients. Later, Mr. Alvarez decided to turn over the building to the Coop because he wanted a different approach in order to reach more people. The building now houses the Medical Arts facilities including the new Dialysis Center. That decision on Mr. Alvarez’s part alleviated the ovrcrowding somewhat, making more rooms in the original building available for patients. Still, more space was needed for patients, surgical, and laboratory. departments. So the Board of Directors approved the construction of a three-storey addition to the hospital. The job called for bids and the winning bid was submitted by James Yeo of Futuristic Construction Co . A year later on April 8, 2013, the new addition was inaugurated with Bishop Arigo no less, officiating at the blessing. The first and second floors are fully functional with the third floor in the final finishing stage. The new portion of the hospital is impressive. It has the appearance of a truly modern and advanced structure. There are private, simi private and wards. All the patient rooms are airconditioned. The private suites can have televisions and refrigerators upon request, with additional charges. With the building expansion, bed capacity increased from 25 to 80 with relatively larger, fully-equipped rooms and a balanced mix of private, semi-private and wards. At the rate the hospital is growing, 80 beds may not be enough for long. Should that need arise, the structural engineers assured that the hospital design can easily accomodate a fourth floor. There are: two surgical rooms with their respective equipment & fixtures; a delivery room, intensive care unit with the necessary oxygen supply, and cardio-pulmonary monitors; plus a 24/7 manned Laboratory with its array of modern diagnostic equipment. It now boasts some of the more sophisticated equipment such as the Cobas IT 5000 found only in a handful of notable hospitals like St Lukes. In addition, the laboratory has other pieces of equipment that allow other delicate tests to be performed, such as Mammograms, brain scans and tests that can detect the presence of cancer as well as other disorders. Just recently the hospital received its license to operate their dialysis center. The first patients were treated on June 11. This is another significant milestone for the hospital. It is another essential service that can be provided to the community and a logical extension of its existing services. Today, the Coop is without a doubt, the best equipped hospital in Palawan. As a Secondary or Level II Hospital all surgeries can be performed there, subject only to the availability of the proper equipment and surgical staff. There are no plans for now, to become a terciary and residency training hospital. The focus is to provide quality and affordable health services for the community. Palawan has almost two thousand islands, most of which are inhabited. There is still much to be done in terms of reaching outlying areas where residents still have great difficulty in accessing medical care or in some cases, none at all, according to Dr. Alvin Timbancaya. It is not difficult to extrapolate the impact of this hospital on the community qualitatively, by looking at the diagnostic equipment now in place and overall set- up of the facilities. Quantitatively, just consider the eonomic impact on the community of the 150 + employees on the payroll of approximately one and a half million pesos per month, which in turn is spent on food, clothing, shelter, education and entertainment in the local economy. fpt
Posted on: Sat, 20 Jul 2013 04:28:39 +0000
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