Mariano Marcos Memorial Hospital Accredited as KMC Site for Region 1

After a successful pilot year of the Kangaroo Mother Care Program and compliance with the Foundation’s requirements for accreditation, the Mariano Marcos Memorial Hospital and Medical Center (MMMH&MC) was accredited as the KMC Center of Training and Excellence for Region 1 of the Philippines. The Certificate of Accreditation was granted to the hospital during their foundation day celebration last February 18, 2011. The accreditation ceremony was witnessed by no less than Health Undersecretary Teodoro Herbosa, who delivered the keynote address in the Hospital Foundation Anniversary celebrations. Chief of Hospital, Dr. Ma. Lourdes K. Otayza received the Certificate of Accreditation.

On the same day, MMMH & MC Department of Pediatrics became the first recipient of a research grant from the KMC Foundation, after their research proposal was approved by the Board in a meeting last January 2011. The research entitled “Kangaroo Mother Care for Low Birth Weight Infants: A Randomized Controlled Trial” will be conducted by senior resident Dr. Remelie M. Ballesteros (Principal Investigator) and supervised by Dr. Ernella A. Agulay (Co-Investigator/Consultant). A memorandum of agreement was duly signed by the investigators, the Department Chair, Dr. Aurea Dagdag-Matias and the Foundation President, Dr. Socorro Mendoza with the Board Secretary Ms. Annabella Guerrero.

MMMH & MC becomes the FIRST KMC Center officially accredited by the Foundation outside Metro Manila. It will serve as the training center on KMC for Region 1 and the center of excellence for the practice of Kangaroo Mother Care. As such, it shall be the referral center for mothers and health care providers seeking information, education, service provision, and research in the field of Kangaroo Mother Care. Further, the center will be expected to promote, advocate, and educate all stakeholders at all levels of neonatal care in the region regarding KMC. The Foundation, in its 3-year partnership with the hospital, will continue to monitor the hospital with quarterly visits, review of statistics, publication of landmark achievements and research outputs, and assist the KMC committee and the Administration in the fulfilment of the vision that all low birth weight babies are primed to their fullest potential through KMC. Needless to say, this will help in the achievement of MDG 4: to decrease childhood mortality by two-thirds in 2015.