Leading for one, same vision

Contributed photo
Contributed photo

FOR someone who plans to take the path to leadership, he must know how to negotiate with his followers. And if he feels he is not the right one to do the negotiation, at least he must have the wisdom to determine who knows best to do it. That is what Dr. Michael Jamiana realized when he accepted the challenge to become the Medical Director of one of the biggest hospitals in Davao City.

Doc Mike, as he is fondly called by his colleagues and friends, is not only the medical director but also the Covid incident command director of Brokenshire Hospital.

Leading a medical institution surrounded by professionals, Doc Mike knows that everybody’s opinion and words matter to achieve the same goal for the hospital. With this, he admitted he needed to be surrounded by the people who believe and support the goal he envisions.

“Naay mga times kasi nga naay mga taong lisod patuohon, lisod pasundon (There are times when there are people who are difficult to manage), who have difficulty following orders, so it’s very critical pud nga (that) you are surrounded by supportive people,” he said.

“So, kritikal jud nga kabalo ka kinsa sa imong tao ang maayo mu-handle sa pag-negotiate aning mga tao nga lisod pasundon,” he said, admitting that in every organization or company, there are always those whom he calls as the “oppositionists.”

He, however, does not discount the fact that it is necessary to hear everyone’s voice and to assure his subordinates that “we have the same aspiration or the same goal for the hospital.”

With this strategy, Doc Mike was able to steer the hospital to “slowly progress and achieve some distinctive competencies.”

Through his kind of leadership, the hospital was able to upgrade its facilities where some of these, in fact, can only be found at Brokenshire among all other hospitals in Mindanao.

“We are the only private hospital with a Molecular Laboratory, which was just launched a few weeks ago. It is also the first hospital in Mindanao that has Hybrid Endolap surgery with

SpyGlass technology and we are the only one in the whole of Davao City to have Indocyanine Green (ICG) capability. Aside from that, we are also proud to say that in Mindanao, we are the only one who is capable of Invitro Fertilization,” Doc Mike said.

And who could not be more proud when out of six centers in the country that are capable to do Invitro Fertilization procedure, one is positioned in Mindanao and at Brokenshire, aside from being the sole hospital in Mindanao to have a Child & Adolescent Neuro-Development Center.

“I want to also emphasize that we are not only a healthcare facility for the upper 1 percent of society but we are a healthcare facility for all because it is part of my advocacy to tailor our practice not only for those who can afford but also for those who cannot,” he said.

Doc Mike narrated that becoming a Medical Director of a tertiary healthcare facility was an “accidental” opportunity for him.

“Around 2015, they requested me to be their Training Officer for their Surgery Department so that they could get the accreditation they’ve been waiting for so long. Fortunately, they got the accreditation and were able to establish a legitimate training program, so they requested me to become their Medical Director in June 2016,” he shared.

Under Doc Mike’s helm, Brokenshire became a Level 3 institution and was able to help establish it as a base hospital for students of the College of Medicine.

“It’s gearing up to becoming an academic healthcare center because of the medical school,” he said. He admitted that running and administering a tertiary healthcare institution is not a walk in the park, and he is grateful that the stalwarts of the hospital were very supportive of him.

“It was a critical success factor; the relationship between me and the hospital practitioners and personnel, and being open about having a joint vision for the hospital. I became passionate about it that it became the meaning of a Medical Director’s life to want it to grow and succeed,” he said.

He added that at first the financial compensation he got was rather not suitable for a hospital medical director.

“But the salary did not matter anymore because what mattered already was your mission work and to achieve your vision together,” he said.

Having the same vision not only with the hospital board and executives but also with the people working for the hospital is very important; this was what he greatly realized when a crisis like the Covid-19 pandemic erupted.

“All of you need to look at the same direction on what to do with the crisis and how to do it,” he said, citing that the lapses could greatly affect the hospital operations, but these are also lessons learned so that in the future mistakes are minimized or prevented.

He also shared that what the people around him did not know was that before he accepted the challenge to become the Medical Director of a tertiary hospital, he prepared very well for it, studying and attending programs-workshops in hospital administration in different schools.

“I even underwent executive education on leadership and how to manage a hospital at Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health in Boston USA,” he said, adding that spending time and getting real health care management education was key and the reason why it took him long to accept the proposal of Brokenshire.

For those who struggle to be a leader, Doc Mike says balancing is very important.

“May iba kasi naiiwan ang family nila, nawawalan sila ng time sa isang aspeto ng buhay nila, so you really need to know how to balance your life and your time,” he ended.

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