Hospital administrators mark founding day

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine College of Hospital Administrators (PCHA) is celebrating its 37th Foundation Day tomorrow with a forum at the Unilab Bayanihan Hall in Mandaluyong City.

The forum will address issues affecting hospital administrators such as income tax and internal revenue, health insurance claims, Department of Health (DOH) accreditation, and hospital licensing.

Invited to speak before PCHA’s more than 200 members are Internal Revenue Commissioner Kim Jacinto-Henares; Dr. Eduardo Banzon, PhilHealth president and CEO; Dr. Teodoro Herbosa, DOH undersecretary; and lawyer Nicolas Lutero III, DOH director.

Dr. Elmer Pedregosa, PCHA president, said hospital administrators are also faced with the task of improving the facilities and services of health care institutions.

“It’s a challenge for hospitals to upgrade their equipment and develop their human resources,” he said.

Thankfully, with the help of medical equipment providers such as HealthSolutions Enterprises Inc., which offers state-of-the-art devices and personnel training to provincial hospitals, health care is decentralized from Metro Manila and major cities nationwide. This includes assignment of province-based service engineers for quick response.

“With decentralization, provincial hospitals are now developing and specialists are no longer concentrating in Manila. To get quality health care, you can now go to Cebu or Iloilo,” Pedregosa said.

With the theme “Unity in Diversity — the Cutting Edge in Managerial Strategy,” the forum also celebrates diversity within the college.

“Today, we have a board of regents that come from North Cotabato, Vigan and Nueva Ecija. Now, PCHA’s thrust is not only to concentrate in Manila but to diversify in the regions,” Pedregosa said.

He said the foundation day forum is in line with the college’s thrust of continuously professionalizing the practice of hospital administration.

“This is just one of the tools we use to update our members’ skills and knowledge. We also have regional symposia, lectures and a national convention,” he said.

The Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao symposia will be held in June, July and August, respectively, while the national convention is held annually in November.

The PCHA also promotes professionalism by providing Continuing Professional Education (CPE) programs to hospital administrators and managers.

“The CPE programs allow our members to share experiences and best practices in their areas. It’s like a meeting of the minds,” Pedregosa said.

Regional satellite training programs in Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao also update members and non-members on professional advancement and new management technologies.

“These are training programs with customized topics, tailor-fit to the needs of our members in a particular area,” Pedregosa said.