DAVAO CITY – The Davao Doctors Hospital (DDH) has recently expanded its compliance program to include various stakeholders of the Company.
During an event at the Apo View Hotel, DDH Management briefed its Suppliers and Consultant Partners on various compliance policies which are at par with international standards and how it would ultimately benefit DDH Clients.
DDH President & CEO Celso Bernard G. Lopez highlighted sustainability as the main focus of this compliance program.
“If all our partners, suppliers, and contractors are also focused and committed to good governance, we can ensure that DDH will succeed in giving quality healthcare to our clients in perpetuity. And when partners are aligned with our values and share our client-centered approach to healthcare, they will ultimately benefit by being our long-term providers of quality input supplies and services,” he said.
“With good governance, we effectively ensure uninterrupted healthcare, and so everyone wins,” he added.
Atty. Jane Catherine Rojo-Tiu, Metro Pacific Hospital Holdings, Inc. (MPHHI) AVP for Legal and Chief Compliance Officer, and one of the invited keynote speakers, noted that the compliance program aims to ensure that DDH works towards achieving its business objectives while walking the upright path and staying committed to the ideals of honesty, integrity, impartiality, and efficiency.
Atty. Rojo-Tiu highlighted that DDH, like the rest of the MPHHI Group of Hospitals, adopted nine policies for its compliance program. The three most important are: Anti-Bribery and Anti-Corruption (ABAC), Conflict of Interest (COI), and Whistleblowing Policies.
“The ABAC Policy aims to regulate and provide adequate safeguards and procedures for critical areas of operation, while the COI Policy requires disclosure of instances when personal interests of stakeholders conflict with the interest of the hospital or its patients in order to provide remedial measures adequately,” Atty. Rojo-Tiu explained. She further added that “through the Whistleblowing Policy, DDH encourages the reporting of any misconduct or illegal act so appropriate corrective, or remedial measures may be taken.”
Both Atty. Rojo-Tiu and Mr. Lopez echoed the importance of obtaining the support and commitment of all external stakeholders such as vendors, suppliers, corporate and hospital partners, and all medical consultants for the program to be successful and achieve its objectives.
The talk clarified that while all the nine policies are directly and fully applicable to the employees of DDH, the Company merely requests for seven main commitments from Third Parties, which include full support to any whistleblowing investigation, encouragement of full compliance by employees, strict adherence to the policies when they are acting in a representative capacity, attendance to periodic compliance trainings, disclosure of conflict of interests, submission of required forms, and reporting of any misconduct or improper behavior that they know of.
The briefing was attended by internal and external stakeholders who agreed to take note of the hospital’s latest best practice.
Atty. Rojo-Tiu said the important dialogue would help positively shape the Philippine healthcare industry.
