Mandalar Hospital achieves remarkable wins in Healthcare Asia Awards

The Myanmar-based hospital was awarded for its facilities renovation and employee engagement initiatives.

Mandalar Hospital was the first private hospital in the Upper Myanmar region since 1994. In order to improve the quality of care and patient experience, the hospital strategically commenced planning of adaptation and continual progress from 2020 onwards.

Faced with various crises, compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic, its operations faced extraordinary challenges during the past two years.

In this year’s Healthcare Asia Awards, Mandalar Hospital bagged two major awards: the Employee Engagement of the Year – Myanmar award for its employee engagement programme called “Project Umbrella”, and the Facilities Improvement Initiative of the Year – Myanmar for its facilities renovation and expansion initiatives.

For the first award, the “Project Umbrella” focused on having successful employee engagement through an all-inclusive campaign.

The objective was to identify employees’ needs and pain points and to address them accordingly. “Project Umbrella” was launched to drive positive change and to focus on capacity building as well as to boost employees’ morale and productivity.

The employee engagement committee successfully executed a line-up of initiatives despite a very limited budget and human resource shortage.

Amongst these include programmes on learning and development, safety and welfare, wellness, organisation culture and communications, leadership development, and staff activities.

In giving this award, the judging panel considered its achievements. A survey conducted in 2020 showed an improvement in all HR indicators. Its comprehensive initiatives resulted in improved attrition, such as the 2022 turnover rate decreasing to 7.3%, as compared to 11% and 30% in 2021 and 2020, respectively. Re-employment rate has also increased. The hospital achieved an improved participation rate of 82% for employee engagement surveys compared to 62% in the previous year.

All these improved indicators mean that employees believe in the company’s ability to provide job security, benefits, and career opportunities.

For its second award, the focus was put on renovation and expansion done by Mandalar Hospital, which was carried on the progressive sector by sector to minimise operational disruptions.

At the height of the pandemic, the hospital started construction of the COVID-19 Centre which was completed within 99 days.

With the future in mind, the COVID-19 Centre was designed to be able to transform into OPD and IPD care settings for use in the post-COVID period.

In mid-2022 when COVID-19 numbers were declining, the ground floor of the centre was converted into an Accident and Emergency department, Hemodialysis centre, and Endoscopy centre, whilst the first and second floors were converted into inpatient rooms.

The imaging centre was also upgraded to provide patients with a better experience. The space was expanded to be equipped with a 1.5 Tesla MRI machine.

Similarly, the laboratory was expanded for a more efficient blood collection area and the operational zone. A new platform was also equipped and the laboratory was upgraded into a dual platform and fully automated system.

Other renovations included the operation theatres and rehabilitation centre that were due for upgrades. Pharmacy counters were also expanded to improve efficiency and reduce waiting time.

Committed to staying true to its sole aim of operational excellence, Mandalar Hospital establishes and delivers continuous improvement through various renovations and upgrades in different areas of the hospital.