Many delegates at the recent 43rd World Hospital Congress in Muscat, Oman took advantage of the new CERCA networking app to identify and meet valuable new contacts they quite likely would not have otherwise met without this powerful tool. Find out who is also using this great new tool and how you can get it as well.

EHMA is pleased to announce the second edition of its Winter School on the theme of "Reimagining leadership for healthcare". The Winter School will take place in Grimbergen (Brussels), Belgium on 4-6 February 2020 and specifically targets healthcare managers and professionals interested in reflecting on their leadership style and acquiring new skills.

This new publication addresses the decommissioning as the removal of medical devices from their originally intended use in a health care facility to an alternative use or disposal. It further explains the options to eliminate or reuse and the notion of disinvestment decision. WHO developed this guide, with support from experts, as part of the WHO Medical device technical series.

The IHF is delighted to announce six new healthcare leaders joining the esteemed Governing Council. They are Niall Dickson fron the NHS Confederation, Dr. Ekaterine Kavtaradze from EVEX Medical Corporation, Dr. Satoru Komatumoto from the Japan Hospital Association, Dr. Huberto Lapuz from the Philippine Hospital Association, Rui Manuel Leal from the Portuguese Association for Hospital Development (APDH) and Dr. Steve Wen-Neng Ueng from the Taiwan Hospital Association.

The Philippine Hospital Association has always been guided by its mission statement, Lead, Enable, Assist and Protect (LEAP) hospitals towards quality service.

With the ever-increasing demands for participation and involvement of the PHA in the various activities and concerns of the concerned government agencies and other Non-Government Organizations., the need for more empowerment of its PHA Chapters nation-wide have become a necessity. This, to better cope and awaken the voice of the silent majority, especially on legislative issues affecting healthcare operation.

For the ensuing year, the PHA intends to establish a new Committee whose function shall be to tango to the sound of the soon to be implemented Universal Healthcare Act and ensure that no hospital members are unduly disadvantaged by any differences in interpretations in its implementations by the Local Government Units in the numerous provinces and cities in the Philippines.

The Philippine's Department of Health (DOH) holds the over-all technical authority on health. It is the country's national health policy-maker and regulatory institution. It is mandated to develop national plans, technical standards, and guidelines on health. Aside from being the regulator of all health services and products, the DOH is the provider of special tertiary health care services and technical assistance to health providers and stakeholders.

A significant DOH agency supports the attainment of its mandate to take good care of the healthcare of the population. The National Health Insurance Program was established and created the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PHIC) to provide health insurance coverage and ensure affordable, acceptable, available and accessible health care services for all citizens of the Philippines. It serves as the means for the healthy to help pay for the care of the sick and for those who can afford medical care to subsidize those who cannot. Through the years, it has expanded progressively and presently, with the passage early 2019 of the Universal Healthcare Law, now plays a significant role, along with the Local Government Units (province-wide and city-wide), in providing accessible, affordable and worry-free healthcare for the entire population.

L.E.A.P. – the acronym for Lead, Enable, Assist and Protect. LEAP is a powerful word that encapsulates the brand that propels the leadership and general membership of the Philippine Hospital Association (PHA) as it navigates the wide universe of healthcare.

The PHA is a 70-year old organization of healthcare providers from the government and private sectors in the 7,107 islands of the Philippines. It is composed of nearly 2,000 hospitals. A not for profit and non-stock entity, its views and voices are much sought after and enjoy the recognition of the various agencies of the government as well as the lawmaking bodies of the land from both the Congress and the Senate.

At the moment, in its Platinum Year, I sit as the organization’s 13th President. Certainly, it gives me much pride to be part of the important page in the history book of the organization.