Premier hospital Makati Medical Center recently appointed a new Medical Director, on the back of improving its healthcare services.
University of Sto. Tomas graduate Johnny Sinon, MD will serve as full-time MakatiMed Medical Director from 2016 to 2018, handling a total of 2,316 staff and overseeing Medical Services, Medical Education, Hospital Accreditation, Patient Relations and Clinical Support Services.
Dr. Sinon’s first order on board as Medical Director is to strengthen the hospital’s research projects, which were only done previously because they were required, according to him.
“Now, we’re trying to encourage them to be more research-oriented because the reality is, many new breakthroughs come from research,” he said. “If you’re not research-oriented, you will miss the boat.”
The research programs will primarily focus on regenerative medicine (stem cell), a growing trend in the medical field.
“There’s a lot of innovation in that, and it’s all research at this point, but we’re already seeing good results out of that,” averred Dr. Sinon.
The Medical Director’s plan to step up MakatiMed’s research programs is in keeping with his commitment to closely support President and CEO Rosalie Montenegro’s strategic plan for the healthcare institution’s growth and expansion.
In the field of stem cell, Montenegro reiterated Dr. Sinon’s priority to conduct more research on it.
“We want to include stem cell as part of the research because many of the hospitals abroad are already in clinical trials and we say ‘why not divert some to the Philippines?’,” she said.
Dr. Sinon also plans to augment residency training program and collaborations with academic institutions for trainings and research projects.
MakatiMed is working with the University of the Philippines, and exploring possibilities of collaborating with UST, Stanford University and University of California.
“We’re are very hopeful [that this would push through] because UP is very happy they can do this with us. It’s just a matter of having an MOU and we can proceed,” enthused Dr. Sinon. “We’re also looking at UST. We’re also exploring overseas.”
Montenegro furthered, “We already have something with Stanford and University of California. But in the past, these were only for short-term training programs where MakatiMed would send doctors to them for short-term courses. Now, we’re trying to develop our relationship with them.”
Dr. Sinon said that aside from the hospital’s initiative, they are also encouraging doctors to get further trainings abroad.
These concentrations are in line with MakatiMed’s new direction to shift from being a doctor-centered hospital to a patient-centered healthcare institution, wherein the latter’s welfare is put first.
“In today’s healthcare, patients have choices. Therefore we are going to shift the focus and we are going to be patient-centered,” said Montenegro.
She is quick to note, however, that the move does not mean setting aside the physicians’ interest, as “they are important because patients are loyal to doctors.” The MakatiMed head cited an example of offering the doctors’ designated parking slot to patients with cars.
Finally, the hospital’s corporate social responsibility remains a priority for Dr. Sinon. Along with continuing medical missions, Dr. Sinon hopes to strengthen and rationalize MakatiMed’s Health Service Program, its charity program for indigent members of the community.
“With me on board, I hope that all programs and projects we put in place will get the doctors’ support. It’s my role to make them see it is worthwhile doing [them],” Dr. Sinon told Manila Standard.
Visit www.makatimed.net.ph for more information.