AC Health, QualiMed ramp up vaccination program, equip facilities to address COVID surge
On March 19, the QualiMed Health Network shared its progress of vaccinating over 1,400 of its healthcare worker population. The QualiMed Health Network, with hospitals in Sta. Rosa, Laguna, San Jose Del Monte, Bulacan, Tanauan, Batangas, and Iloilo City, Iloilo, are among the first to receive the doses of AstraZeneca and Sinovac vaccines from the DOH-IATF, in collaboration with respective local government units.
IN PHOTO: Mr. Ramon Abadilla, COO of QualiMed San Jose Del Monte, Bulacan, receives first dose of AstraZeneca vaccine in program launch
“The QualiMed team is extremely grateful to the DOH and IATF for providing vaccine doses for our frontline healthcare workers. This week, nearly 90% of our team have reported that they are willing to be vaccinated which is encouraging not only for us, but also for other Filipinos. As we continue to ramp up our vaccination program, we also hope to address vaccine hesitancy in the country and emphasize its crucial role in providing safer and more reliable healthcare to our patients,” said Jimmy Ysmael, President and CEO of the QualiMed Health Network.
“The AC Health network renews its commitment to support the government in the fight against the pandemic. With the surge of COVID cases, we are gearing up our testing sites, facilities, and digital platforms to continue providing accessible healthcare to Filipinos. Moving forward, we are preparing to contribute to the country’s vaccination efforts as we gear up for large-scale administration. We have identified and are setting up nearly 20 mega-sites nationwide with a goal to administer 1,000,000 doses by 2021,” said Paolo Borromeo, President and CEO of AC Health.
Recently, the Ayala Group, led by Ayala Healthcare Holdings, Inc (AC Health), has collaborated with ICTSI and Moderna to reach a supply deal for 13 million vaccine doses for the Philippines. The group aims to launch its COVID vaccination program for employees and partners in June, pending the delivery of procured vaccines from manufacturers and the allocation of vaccines by the national government.
AC Health also continues to respond to the recent COVID surge by leveraging its network that has established testing sites, COVID-19 referral hospitals, and digital platforms over the past year.
IN PHOTO: QualiMed Hospital – Sta. Rosa, Laguna with COVID-19 Holding Area and BSL-2 Testing Laboratory
Last November, AC Health expanded QualiMed Hospital – Sta. Rosa’s COVID-dedicated bed capacity to 75 beds, and QualiMed Hospital – San Jose Del Monte’s to 30 beds, effectively doubling the total bed capacity for COVID patients since the facilities were initially upgraded last year. Healthway’s Family and Multi-Specialty clinics also remained open to serve as extended frontline care. Since the beginning of the pandemic, AC Health’s network of QualiMed hospitals and Healthway clinics has triaged over 500,000 patients.
On testing sites, the Ayala Group, led by AC Health, engaged with private sector partners to build 4 Biosafety Level 2 modular laboratories in QualiMed hospitals across the country. This consortium was formed as part of the Ayala Group’s initiative to contribute an additional capacity of 5,500 confirmatory RT-PCR tests per day in support of the Department of Health’s and the Inter-agency Task Force’s Project T3 (Test, Trace, Treat). As of today, the laboratories have already conducted over 150,000 tests.
AC Health’s Vigos Ventures and Globe’s 917Ventures, also launched HealthNow, an all-in-one healthcare app that offers telemedicine consultations, online medicine ordering and delivery, and clinic and diagnostic testing booking. To date, HealthNow has recorded over 160,000 app installs and more than 400 onboarded doctors.