Rizal Medical Center clinches three wins at Healthcare Asia Awards 2025

The hospital was recognised for its advancements in cancer care, maternal health, and clinical innovation.

Rizal Medical Center took home three major wins at the coveted Healthcare Asia Awards 2025 for its success in expanding the national cancer registry, pioneering advanced Placenta Accreta Spectrum (PAS) case management, and enhancing maternal and child health through its innovative Service Delivery Network.

These achievements earned the hospital recognition in the Allied Health Initiative of the Year - Philippines, Clinical Service Initiative of the Year - Philippines, and Service Delivery Innovation Initiative of the Year - Philippines categories.

Advancing national cancer registry

Building on its commitment to advancing cancer care, Rizal Medical Center spearheaded a project to expand population-based cancer registries (PBCRs) in the country, particularly in Cebu City and Davao City. This expansion aims to ensure continued financial, technical, and administrative support for the national cancer registry.  

PBCRs are dedicated to systematically collect, store, analyse, interpret, and report data on individuals diagnosed with cancer within a specific geographical area.

Unlike hospital-based cancer registries that focus on recording information on cancer patients seen within a particular hospital, PBCRs aim to capture data on all new cancer cases within a well-defined population, thus providing an unbiased profile of the cancer burden in the population and how it is changing over time.

PBCRs serve multiple purposes, including providing essential and unbiased statistics on the extent and nature of cancer burden in the community, aiding in epidemiological investigations to identify causes and prevention strategies, and evaluating the effectiveness of cancer control efforts.

The Philippines currently only has two high-quality PBCRs that actively collect and share data nationally and internationally, namely, the Philippine Cancer Society-Manila Cancer Registry (PCS-MCR) and the Department of Health-Rizal Cancer Registry (DOH-RCR), which gather cancer data for the NCR and Rizal province.

Amongst the goals of these PBCRs are to collect and compile data on cancer cases and monitor cancer incidence, prevalence, and survival rates, as well as provide data for research, policymaking, and the healthcare system.

The Rizal Medical Center’s expansion project aims to expand the PBCR in the Visayas region (Cebu City) and the Mindanao region (Davao City) and to ensure continued financial, technical, and administrative support for their contribution to the national cancer registry.

This data is going to describe the extent and nature of the cancer burden in the community, establish public health priorities, be a source of material for etiological studies, and monitor and assess the effectiveness of cancer control activities.

This initiative earned the hospital the Allied Health Initiative of the Year - Philippines category.

Delivering maternal health care services

Rizal Medical Center has revolutionised the management of Placenta Accreta Spectrum (PAS) disorders by combining multivessel selective embolisation (MVSE) and intraoperative ultrasound (IOUS), an innovative framework to preserve the uterus whilst ensuring maternal and neonatal safety and providing utmost patient care, thereby reducing maternal morbidity and mortality.

PAS disorders occur when the placenta abnormally adheres to the uterine wall, often resulting in severe complications during delivery, such as massive haemorrhage, uterine rupture, and injury to surrounding organs.

The planned management in all the cases is to use MVSE and IOUS to decrease blood loss, reduce morbidity, and save the uterus. All cases have undergone uterine artery embolisation, with additional vessels embolised as needed.

From June 2022 to December 2024, a total of fifteen cases of PAS have been referred. The mean age of the cases included is 30 years old, with a range of 19 to 43 years old. Half of the cases have been diagnosed after 32 weeks, with confirmed ultrasound findings of PAS 2, and the other half of PAS 3.

Rizal Medical Centre showcases the power of innovation, collaboration, and dedication to improving maternal health, prioritising patient care and safety. The facility has received the Clinical Service Initiative of the Year - Philippines title for this innovative medical procedure.

Meanwhile, its Service Delivery Network was established to reduce maternal morbidity and mortality, facilitating prompt referral of OB-GYN cases and implementing Tier Care Classification amongst the stakeholders. It also aims to widen service coverage whilst enhancing client access to services, improving links between clients and providers, as well as encouraging locally responsive initiatives.

The network also ensures that every pregnancy is adequately managed and every delivery is facility-based and managed by skilled birth attendants. It ensures that high-risk pregnant patients are managed in tertiary hospitals whilst low-risk pregnant patients are referred to lying-in facilities. These primary care centres are equipped with obstetricians trained to identify high-risk conditions to facilitate referring to the tertiary centres if the need arises.

Meanwhile, the Tier Classification System has been adapted to facilitate the identification of patients needing higher levels of healthcare, eliminating the confusion of which cases should be referred or otherwise.

“The network's objectives include enhancing access to services, improving quality of care, and promoting collaboration amongst stakeholders to ensure optimal care for patients. Regular monitoring and evaluation are conducted to assess the effectiveness of the network and identify areas for improvement,” the company said.

For this major milestone, Rizal Medical Centre was awarded the Service Delivery Innovation Initiative of the Year - Philippines category.

The Healthcare Asia Awards honours exceptional hospitals across the region that have redefined the standards of excellence in the industry through their innovative solutions and substantial contributions to communities.

The Healthcare Asia Awards is presented by Healthcare Asia Magazine. To view the full list of winners, click here. If you want to join the 2026 awards programme and be acclaimed for your organisation's remarkable initiatives and contributions to the healthcare industry, please contact Julie Anne Nuñez at [email protected].