Pangasinan hospital gets ISO nod

DAGUPAN CITY , Philippines   â€“ The Region 1 Medical Center (R1MC) is the first hospital under the Department of Health (DOH) in northern Luzon to receive International Standard Organization (ISO) certification.

Roland Joseph Mejia, R1MC director, received the hospital’s ISO 900:2008 certification from Paul Bagatsing, vice president/general manager of AJA Registrars Inc.

He said for 88 years of the hospital’s existence, it was only in the last five years that there had been tremendous improvements.

Aside from the ISO certification, R1MC was also inaugurated as a 600-bed hospital under Republic Act 10614 recently signed by President Aquino.

Pangasinan fourth district Rep. Gina de Venecia authored House Bill 3840 increasing the bed capacity of R1MC from 300 to 600. It will be a 1,500 bed capacity before the end of Aquino’s term with the construction of an 11-story building of R1MC.

Health Assistant Secretary Gerardo Bayugo said R1MC is the second DOH hospital to get its ISO certification this year, after Quirino Medical Center in Project 4, Quezon City last August.

Bayugo said the Ilocos Training Center in La Union is also set for ISO certification very soon.

He said “we’re here to serve and improve our services,” adding that being ISO certified “means we are not perfect yet but we’re going towards that direction.”

De Venecia said “there’s no stopping the progress of R1MC,”the lone tertiary hospital in Region 1 that had its first successful kidney transplant recently.