Angels Initiative Launches New Mission and Center of Excellence Award at Twilight Symposium

Angels Initiative, a healthcare advocacy program of Boehringer Ingelheim (Philippines) Inc., elevates stroke care standards and improves patient outcomes.

The Twilight Symposium highlighted significant progress in stroke care and new standards for excellence. The Center of Excellence was awarded to Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center, Governor Celestino Gallares Memorial Medical Center, and Quirino Memorial Medical Center for achieving the Diamond Status in all quarters of 2023.

At the Twilight Symposium, the Angels Initiative unveiled a new mission to establish 100 Angels regions worldwide by 2027. The event also introduced the Center of Excellence Award, celebrating significant achievements in stroke care management.

This initiative is focused on optimizing acute stroke-ready hospitals, Emergency Medical Services (EMS) partnerships, and community awareness. Central to this mission are collaborations with stroke champions nationwide and a strengthened partnership with the Stroke Society of the Philippines (SSP).

Krissy Avestro, Stroke Care Program Manager and Angels Initiative Lead, showcases the significant advancements in stroke care in the Philippines since the launch of Angels. She highlights how stroke-ready hospitals and teams have made notable progress in aligning with global standards, as reflected in the Registry of Stroke Care Quality (RES-Q) data.

Driven by a shared vision to advance stroke care, Angels Initiative and SSP is committed to work together towards developing more and better Acute Stroke Ready Hospitals (ASRH), endorsing a global registry through the Registry of Stroke Care Quality (RES-Q) to promote quality stroke care, and leading impactful awareness campaigns such as #StrokeDon’sStayAtHome “Brain Attack Awareness Week,” “World Stroke Day Celebrations,” and “Batang Bayani,” initiatives.

At the Twilight Symposium, the Angels Initiative announced their new mission to establish 100 Angels regions by 2027 and introduced the Center of Excellence Award for outstanding stroke care management.

Capacity-building programs such as the ANGELS Academy, and simulation workshops equipped and helped prepare hospitals to be certified as SSP-ASRH. SSP has also advanced ASRH certification, leading to 66 certified hospitals and the development of a real-time thrombolysis-ready hospital locator map. The Stroke Nurse Masterclass, a six-month comprehensive training for nurses was also launched in 2023 and has certified 55 nurses from North and Central Luzon and 110 from the Visayas and Mindanao.

Dr. Maria Socorro Florendo-Sarfati, outgoing President of Stroke Society of the Philippines (SSP), highlights the essential collaboration between SSP and the Angels Initiative in advancing stroke care. She emphasizes how their shared vision has driven impactful initiatives including Stroke Nurse Masterclass, Acute Stroke Ready Hospital (ASRH) certification, and Registry of Stroke Care Quality (RESQ), significantly enhancing patient outcomes nationwide.

SSP and Angels Initiative have partnered on strategic planning, annual conventions, and webinars, attracting over thousands of delegates annually. They continue to work closely with stakeholders in the public health sector to strengthen the National Stroke Policy, collaborate with PhilHealth on stroke case rates, integrate RES-Q in the National Stroke Registry with the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), and facilitate knowledge exchange with Southeast Asian neighbors.

Krissy Avestro, Stroke Care Program Manager and Angels Initiative Lead highlighted the significant progress in stroke care in the Philippines: “With the significant progress in the Philippines for the past seven years since Angels was launched together with our partner hospitals and stroke champions and teams, there is a notable upward trend of more and better upscale stroke care management. This is evident in the data showing the capability of stroke-ready hospitals and stroke teams to be as competitive as the global standard parameters of the registry of quality stroke care (RES-Q).”

The WSO Angels Award reflects this progress by recognizing 27 hospitals for their commitment to quality stroke care and continuous improvement from Q3 2023 to Q2 2024.

The Angels Initiative and the Stroke Society of the Philippines’ “Stroke Nurse Masterclass” extends certification to nurses from hospitals in Visayas and Mindanao, who are taking their final examination to enhance stroke care in their regions.

The first batch of awardees were Asian Hospital and Medical Center, Amai Pakpak Medical Center, Calamba Medical Center, Caraga Regional Hospital, Makati Medical Center, Northern Mindanao Medical Center, Quirino Memorial Medical Center, and Zamboanga City Medical Center.

The second batch included Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center, Cagayan United Doctors Medical Center, Cagayan Valley Medical Center, Dagupan Doctors Villaflor Memorial Hospital, GreenCity Medical Center, Ilocos Training and Regional Medical Center, Metro Davao Medical and Research Center Inc., Metro Vigan Hospital, Region 1 Medical Center, Rizal Medical Center, and St. Paul Hospital of Tuguegarao Incorporated.

Bataan General Hospital and Medical Center, Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital, Dr. Paulino J. Garcia Memorial Research and Medical Center, Jose R. Reyes Memorial Medical Center, Manila Doctors Hospital, Nueva Ecija Doctors Hospital Incorporated, Philippine General Hospital, and St. Luke’s Medical Center-Quezon City were also recognized for excellence in stroke care.

Among these hospitals, Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center, Governor Celestino Gallares Memorial Medical Center, and Quirino Memorial Medical Center achieved the Diamond Status in all quarters of 2023. These three hospitals received the new Center of Excellence Award, with clocks symbolizing their continued excellence in stroke care.

The Twilight Symposium highlighted significant progress in stroke care and set new standards for excellence. The Angels Initiative and SSP reaffirm their dedication to advancing stroke care standards through innovation and collaboration to reduce the burden of stroke and save more Filipino stroke patients in the country.

To learn more about Angels Initiative, check out the website at www.angels-initiative.com.