Manila Doctors envisioned as 'hospital of first choice'

The hospital director of Manila Doctors Hospital (MDH) said he is eyeing that MaDocs be referred to as "the hospital of first choice."

"It is our objective that we will be the first choice of patients in terms of health needs. If there's something about their health that they want them to think of Manila Doctors first," Dr. Albert Roxas told the DAILY TRIBUNE during an episode of Straight Talk.

Roxas said MDH is well-known for its cardiovascular disease services as well as cancer and surgical procedures.

"We're always trying to improve our facilities, our care services, so that we will always be the first choice of patients," he continued.

"And patients will always go for the doctors, so we always have a program where we invite qualified doctors to join our consultant staff," he added.

Established in 1956, MDH is located in Ermita, Manila. The tertiary hospital currently has 500 beds.

'Hotelization'

Among the services it offers to provide luxury healthcare to its patients is "hotelization," according to Roxas.

MDH provides hotel-like services to patients, including wellness packages that combine health checkups with hotel staycations.

"We are making great efforts to attract more doctors, and when you say hotelization, we are trying to make the hospital look like a hotel with all the convenience of the hotel right now," Roxas explained.

"When patients come in, we have personnel there who will guide them [and] navigate the hospital because they can get lost. We have people there helping them go where they want to go," he added.

For VIP patients, meanwhile, Roxas said MDH has patient navigators to help them navigate their experience in the hospital, such as where their laboratory examinations or imaging procedures will be done.

In order to make MDH look like a hotel, Roxas said they have been carrying out renovations, especially on the United Nations Avenue part of the hospital.

"In a few months, it will be done. We want to have a very nice-looking facade," he added. "If you have a very nice facility, patients like to go to your hospital."

Social service patients

For patients who cannot afford treatment at MDH, Roxas said they also help subsidize their hospitalization.

"These are patients who cannot really afford, and since we need them for our training programs, the doctors provide free services. Accommodations are provided by donors and sometimes government funding," Roxas said.

"We have a corporate social responsibility office wherein we provide the means for these indigent patients to be able to pay for the services of the hospital," he added.