In 2003, the secretaries of the Department of Health (DOH) and the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) signed a memorandum of understanding to institutionalize the Philippine National Health Research System (PNHRS) for the management of research in the country.1 One of the groups constituted under the PNHRS was the Technical Working Group (TWG) on Ethics, which created strategies that highlight the role of ethics in a responsible health research system. Among the recommendations of the Ethics TWG was the establishment of the Philippine Health Research Ethics Board (PHREB).2 In 2006, the PHREB was formally created through DOST Special Order 2006-91 “to ensure that all phases of health research shall adhere to universal ethical principles that value the protection and promotion of the dignity of health research participants.” Since then, PHREB has become the country’s policy making body on health research ethics.2 3 In 2013, the Republic Act 10532一or the PNHRS Law一was enacted.4 The Act strengthened the mandate of PHREB to ensure protection of the welfare, rights, and safety of human research participants, and the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of the Act specified the policies that facilitate the achievement of the PHREB mandate.5 In 2017, through DOST Special Order 2017-248, DOST established research ethics monitoring boards (REMBs) in Region I, Region VI, and Region XI to assist in the comprehensive and consistent implementation of PHREB policies at the regional level.6 The creation of PHREB in 2006 initiated several other mandates from PHREB and other agencies that implement the PNHRS. These mandates一shown in the infographic一support human research participant protection through ethical reviews of research protocols, establishment of research ethics committees, and maintenance of quality standards of these committees through accreditation. Many of these mandates are national in scope, but a few are specific to Davao Region (Region XI).
Ethics Committees, Research

The Republic Act No. 11494, also known as the "Bayanihan to Recover as One Act," mandates the allocation of funds and provides guidance for the procurement of COVID-19 vaccines.1 However, with the limited availability of COVID-19 vaccines, the Department of Health (DOH) established different policies and guidelines for the selection, access, and deployment of these vaccines throughout the country.2 3 4 5 To date, the Philippine Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) has granted emergency use authorizations for eight COVID-19 vaccines, namely: Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine, COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca, CoronaVac, Sputnik V, Janssen COVID-19 Vaccine, Covaxin, COVID-19 Vaccine Moderna, and COVID-19 Vaccine BIBP/Sinopharm.6 One of the guidelines established by the DOH is the implementation of a prioritization scheme, wherein citizens are categorized into different prioritization groups based on risk of exposure to the virus and risk of mortality from COVID-19.4 In Davao City, the COVID-19 vaccination roll out started last 5 March 2021 among health care workers at Southern Philippines Medical Center. 7 Aiming to vaccinate 1,200,000 individuals in Davao City,8 the City Government of Davao, DOH Davao Region, and other participating sectors established 59 vaccination sites throughout the city.9 We gathered online data posted in the official facebook pages of DOH Davao Region and the City Government of Davao. According to the DOH Davao Region reports, as of 27 July 2021, a total of 742,710 doses of COVID-19 vaccines were allotted for Davao City. From the total allotted doses, the City Government of Davao City has successfully administered a total of 330,954 first doses, and 149,122 second doses of COVID-19 vaccines.10 According to the City Government of Davao, as of 25 July 2021, Davao City has administered a total of 85,260 doses (1st dose - 47,332 doses, 2nd dose - 37,928 doses) of COVID-19 vaccine among individuals in the A1 prioritization group, 103,837 doses (1st dose - 76,472 doses, 2nd dose - 27,365 doses) among those in the A2 prioritization group, 179,479 (1st dose - 101,833 doses, 2nd dose - 77,646 doses) among those in the A3 prioritization group, 98,502 doses (1st dose - 97,446 doses, 2nd dose - 1,056 doses) among those in the A4 prioritization group, and 12,998 doses (1st dose - 7,871 doses, 2nd dose - 5,127 doses) among those in the A5 prioritization group.11 All in all, as of 27 July 2021, 149,122 individuals out of Davao City's target of 1,200,000 individuals (12.43%) have received complete COVID-19 vaccination. In addition, 181,832 individuals have already received the first dose of a two-dose COVID-19 vaccine.8
COVID-19

In November 2009, through Republic Act 9792, Davao Medical Center was renamed Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC). This act also provided for the increase in the bed capacity of the hospital from 600 to 1,200 beds.1 The set of implementing rules and regulations for the legislation subsequently specified the increase in the number of health human resources in SPMC to cope up with the hospital's growing number of clients.2 Currently, SPMC has a total of 4,737 personnel, composed of 3,329 employees with plantilla positions and 1,408 employees with non-plantilla positions, deployed to the different divisions of the hospital. Roughly a third of the total personnel are administrative staff, and two thirds are medical and allied medical staff. The Medical Center Chief (MCC) oversees the operations of the whole hospital. Five administrators directly assist the MCC in hospital management: the Chief of Medical Professional Services, the Chief Nurse, the Chief Administrative Officer, the Financial and Management Officer, and the Chief of Allied Professional Services. Due to the increasing bed occupancy rates and the pressing need to increase health human resources in SPMC, an increase in the institution’s bed capacity from 1,200 to 1,500 is presently being proposed through House Bill 7061.3 Once the bill is passed into law, it is expected that additional plantilla items will be created in order to meet the greater operational demands of a bigger hospital.
Hospital Administration ; Hospital Administrators

The Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC) is one of the 16 hospitals retained by the Department of Health in Mindanao.1 It has a diverse clientele, mostly coming from the Davao Region (Region XI), SOCCSKSARGEN (Region XII) and Caraga Region (Region XIII). The SPMC Outpatient Department (OPD) consists of the following specialty clinics: Dental Medicine, Dermatology, Otorhinolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Family and Community Medicine, Internal Medicine, Obstetrics & Gynecology, Ophthalmology, Orthopedics, Pediatrics, Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Medicine, General Surgery, Urology, Cancer Institute, Heart Institute, Institute of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine, and Animal Bite and Treatment Center.2 This infographic shows the number of outpatient consultations in SPMC from January to December 2017, which totalled 449,355. The three outpatient departments with the highest numbers of outpatient consultations were: Family and Community Medicine (64,388 consultations), Obstetrics & Gynecology (58,757 consultations), and Internal Medicine (53,270 consultations). SPMC will expand its services in the future with the construction of the institutes or centers for Women and Newborn Health, Cancer, Kidney and Transplant, Orthopedics, Ophthalmology, Dermatology, Pediatrics, and Acute Care and Trauma. Each of these centers is projected to also run its own specialized outpatient services.
Outpatients

The Mindanao Heart Center (MHC) was inaugurated on 14 February 2007. On 10 October 2013, through Hospital Administration No. 174 series of 2013, MHC was renamed Southern Philippines Medical Center Heart Institute (SPMCHI). The Institute offers a wide range of cardiovascular medical and surgical services, including major heart surgeries such as ventricular septal defect (VSD) repair, tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) correction, and coronary artery bypass graft (CABG).
General Surgery

Diseases of epidemic potential are on surveillance using the Philippine Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response (PIDSR) system maintained by the Department of Health (DOH) regional offices. Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC) contributes data to this system through the Regional Epidemiology Surveillance Unit of Region XI (RESU XI), which releases summary surveillance reports on a weekly basis. The report itself is a count of patients with disease signs or symptoms, suspected disease conditions, specific clinical diagnoses, or laboratory-confirmed diagnoses. Per DOH policy, a single notification of a measles diagnosis needs confirmation and investigation. An increasing number of cases warrants the initiation of outbreak response immunizations (ORI) by the local government, even before an epidemic is formally declared. Serologic confirmation of measles is performed at the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) in Muntinlupa, Alabang.
Disease Outbreaks ; Measles

The Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC) is one of the 16 hospitals retained by the Department of Health in Mindanao.1 It has a diverse clientele, mostly coming from the Davao Region (Region XI), SOCCSKSARGEN (Region XII) and Caraga Region (Region XIII). The SPMC Outpatient Department (OPD) consists of the following specialty clinics: Dental Medicine, Dermatology, Otorhinolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Family and Community Medicine, Internal Medicine, Obstetrics & Gynecology, Ophthalmology, Orthopedics, Pediatrics, Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Medicine, General Surgery, Urology, Cancer Institute, Heart Institute, Institute of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine, and Animal Bite and Treatment Center.2 This infographic shows the number of outpatient consultations in SPMC from January to December 2017, which totalled 449,355. The three outpatient departments with the highest numbers of outpatient consultations were: Family and Community Medicine (64,388 consultations), Obstetrics & Gynecology (58,757 consultations), and Internal Medicine (53,270 consultations). SPMC will expand its services in the future with the construction of the institutes or centers for Women and Newborn Health, Cancer, Kidney and Transplant, Orthopedics, Ophthalmology, Dermatology, Pediatrics, and Acute Care and Trauma. Each of these centers is projected to also run its own specialized outpatient services.
Outpatients

General Surgery

Disease Outbreaks ; Measles