- Category: Mandates and Functions
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MANDATES AND FUNCTIONS
The Batac Emergency Hospital, now Mariano Marcos Memorial Hospital and Medical Center was established by virtue of House Bill 1393 authored by then Congressman of the 2nd District of Ilocos Norte, Honorable Simeon M. Valdez. It was inaugurated on February 18, 1968 and it was opened to the public with a 25 bed capacity. Since there was only one government hospital to cater to the needs of the people, the expansion was made through Republic Act 5191 converting Batac Emergency Hospital into a General Hospital with a 50-bed capacity.
The tremendous influx of patients coming for consultation and treatment, another Bill was passed in Congress which was later approved into law as Republic Act No. 6188 which increased the bed capacity from 50 to 100 beds. By virtue of RA 6229 issued on June 19, 1971, it was renamed to Mariano Marcos Memorial Hospital in honor of the father of the late President Ferdinand Marcos.
In 1973, it was designated by the Ministry of Health as a Regional Hospital. In 1974, it was upgraded to 200 bed capacity hospital hence, On March 17, 1975, a six storey main building was constructed with P 12 million appropriation, coming from the National Government and partly from the Marcos Foundation.
Dr. Juanito A. Rubio, then head of the OB- Gyne Department at the Ilocos Norte Provincial Hospital took over as Officer-In-Charge on June 21, 1980. By virtue of Administrative Order No. 122 s. in 1981, Mariano Marcos Memorial Hospital was designated as a Medical Center in 1981. Dr. Agbayani was recalled back to duty by then President Ferdinand Marcos in order to let him prepare the framework of this hospital as a Regional Medical Center.
In 1985, due to change in political administration, it was renamed as Batac General Hospital. Despite this, the hospital continued to thrive and serve its constituents. Through the initiative and leadership of then Congressman Mariano Nalupta Jr. of the 2nd district of Ilocos Norte, the hospital regained its name Mariano Marcos Memorial Hospital & Medical Center.
On March 16, 1986, Dr. Agbayani resigned and Dr. Quintina D. Duque was designated as Officer-In-Charge through Ministry Order No. 5-c s., 1986 signed by the Secretary of Health Alfredo R. A. Bengzon. Her designation as Officer-In-Charge ended on November 30, 1986 with the appointment of Dr. Domingo G. Samonte Jr.
With Dr. Samonte’s compulsory retirement on October 11, 1991, Dr. Reuben F. Salvador, Medical Specialist III and Chief of Hospital was designated as Officer-In-Charge on October 12, 1991. He was appointed as Chief of Hospital III on January 3, 1992.
In 1992, the Department of Ophthalmology was accredited, the first Department of the Hospital to be accredited by the Philippine Board of Ophthalmology.
In 1994, some national and regional hospitals were devolved to the local government units. Fortunately, MMMH & MC was one of the DOH retained hospitals.
In 1997-1998 under the leadership of Dr. Reuben Salvador, Departments of Ophthalmology, Obstetrics & Gynecology,and Pediatrics were accredited for residency training by their respective Specialty Boards. Services were now departmentalized. Dialysis unit was already established to respond to the needs of the less fortunate nephrology patients who could not afford to go to Manila for treatment.
DOH Designated our hospital as a Blood Bank Center for Region I and Upper Cagayan in 1999 and launched it as a Center of Wellness with emphasis on people’s participation on May 5, 1994.
With the retirement of Dr. Salvador, Dr. Mary Lu B. Magno, the Chief of Medical Professional Staff was designated as Officer-In-Charge.
In 2002, Dr. Ma. Lourdes K. Otayza came in as the Chief of hospital. She further pushed for the improvement and accreditation of other departments. She invited subspecialists to practice in this institution as well as acquired state-of-the-art equipment needed by the subspecialists like endoscopy, laser for ophthalmology, apheresis and the establishment of the sleep laboratory. Career pathing of employees was implemented hence hospital employees were sent for training in other institutions and specialty hospitals in Manila like dialysis nurses in National Kidney Institute, Nursing in University of the Philippines, Philippine General Hospital, Intensive care nursing at the Lung Center of the Philippines, Continuous Medical, Nursing and Administrative staff updates were done through postgraduate courses and workshops/trainings.
Among the earlier awards received by the hospital were as follows:
- Winner of the first national award in Good governance in Medicines for having the best practices, structures in medicine selection, procurement, management, and finance.
- Department of Health (DOH) Red Orchid Fame awarded 2011 & 2012 – implementer of a 100% smoke-free environment.
- Mother and Baby Friendly Initiative Awardee 2012 – implementer of the 10 steps to successful breastfeeding
- MMMH & MC passed ISO 9001:2008 first surveillance audit in 2014.
- MMMH & MC Research Ethics and Review Committee 2014. Recipient of national and international accreditation by Philippine Health Research Ethics Board (PHREB) and Forum for Ethical Review Committees in Asia and the Western Pacific (FERCAP).
At present, the hospital is licensed as a 200 bed capacity Level 3 teaching and training general hospital, with an implementing bed of 477 beds as of December 31, 2021, that provides clinical care and management on the prevalent diseases in the locality, as well as specialized and sub-specialized forms of treatment, surgical procedures and level 3 diagnostic procedures. Under RA 11290, the hospital bed capacity has been increased to 700 beds, the attainment of which was programmed on a staggered basis for a period of five years.
MMMH & MC is the only Medical Center in Northern Luzon which caters to the provinces of Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur (north of Candon City including Vigan), Abra, Northern Cagayan and Kalinga Apayao. MMMHMC is identified as an APEX Hospital in Northwestern Philippines in line with its wide array of services and capabilities. There are additional services which are certified / accredited by DOH and PHIC – TB DOTS Clinic, Animal Bite Clinic and Dialysis Center. PHIC also accredited the hospital for Z-Package (Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia (ALL), Premature Package), though years earlier the hospital was already one of the first identified hospitals by PHIC for the treatment of breast cancer and ALL. The hospital is also in the process of working towards the PHIC Z Benefit Package accreditation of its Occupational Therapy Section.
Nine residency training programs are currently accredited by their specialty boards namely the Department of Pediatrics (1997), Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology (2012), Department of Ophthalmology (1992), Department of Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery (2010), Department of Anesthesia (2011), Department of Pathology and Laboratories (1997), Department of Internal Medicine (2011), Department of Family Medicine (2015) and Department of Surgery (2019). The Medical, paramedical and nursing schools are affiliated for their related learning experience and post-graduate training/rotations in the different clinical departments. Students come from the various colleges and universities in Regions, I, II and CAR. Residents from Manila Doctors Hospital and Delos Santos Medical Center are also rotated in the hospital through a Memorandum of Agreement. The hospital serves as the base hospital for MMSU College of medicine, nursing, physical rehabilitation and medical technology. This also extends to other schools of nursing in Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, Baguio and Cagayan. Some medical specialists are also members of the faculty of MMSU College of Medicine.
The hospital uses HOMIS (Hospital Operations and Management Information System),PACS, SYNAPSE, WebLIS/MIS. As such, MMMH & MC has garnered one of the most outstanding HOMIS implementers among DOH retained hospitals during the 5th Annual Conference on HOMIS in November 2012 at Naga City given by NCHFD-DOH. Through the years, the Department of Pathology and Laboratories has increasingly enhanced, updated and improved its services. As to quality assessment program, aside from Internal Quality Assurance monitoring, our hospital Laboratory has achieved exemplary performance in the National External Quality Assessment Scheme since 2012 to the present given by the different National Reference Laboratories and as mandated by the Department of Health. MMMH & MC is also a Confirmatory Testing Center for G6PD deficiency. It is also designated as one of the lead blood centers in Region I and sentinel site for Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance program of the DOH.
Our pharmacy building has the largest warehouse in hospital settings for drug distribution licensed as a wholesaler as well as drug distributor. Aside from this, MMMH & MC is the first government hospital in Northern Luzon to practice Clinical Pharmacy and Oncology Pharmacy with our Pharmacists trained at St. Luke’s Medical Center.
During the COVID 19 pandemic, the MMMHMC activated its Incident Command System (ICS) to deal with the pandemic and to ensure continuity of service. The hospital also managed to set up a Molecular Biology Laboratory with the assistance of the Provincial Government of Ilocos Norte within 3 months. With its establishment, the hospital began in tandem to receive and respond to referrals from all over the province and nearby towns outside the province.
In order to achieve its vision, which is to be a premiere center of advanced healthcare in the Philippines by 2028, the hospital is geared toward the establishment of Quality Management System certifiable to the ISO 9001:2015 standards and/or its latest version, as one of the important tools in implementing its goals and objectives, as well as achievement of Performance Governance System.
References:
5 Year Development Plan of MMMHMC (2022-2026)
https://www.ihf-fih.org/beyond-the-call-of-duty-for-covid-19/organizations/mariano-marcos-memorial-hospital-and-medical-center/