by Rodolfo Uy Fernandez III Φ2008B
Last June 29, 2010, President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino named the members of his Cabinet, which included Dr. Enrique T. Ona Φ’57 as the Department of Health Secretary. Just last November 4, Dr. Teodoro J. Herbosa Φ’79 took his oath as the new Undersecretary of the Department of Health. Yes, you read it right. Two loyal sons of the Phi Kappa Mu, two men of excellence, honor, and integrity, are at the forefront of the Philippine Health Care System with the sole purpose of serving the Filipino People.
It is with great pride and honor that I introduce these two great men through this piece of writing.
Dr. Enrique T. Ona
Dr. Enrique “Ike” Ona, a native of Sagay City in Negros Occidental, graduated from the University of the Philippines College of Medicine in 1962. After graduating, he took his residency training in surgery at Long Island College Hospital in Brooklyn in New, York. After acquiring fellowship degrees in surgery and experimental surgery in Boston and New York, he decided to receive further training as a Colombo Scholar in Organ Transplantation at Cambridge University in England.
Eventually, Dr. Ona returned to the Philippines, becoming one of the pioneers of organ transplantation in the country. One of his greatest achievements was transforming a government hospital ravaged by fire in 1998 into the first ISO-certified government hospital in the Philippines – the National Kidney Transplant Institute (NKTI). Under his leadership as its executive director, the NKTI has boasted of having the most modern hemodialysis center in Southeast Asia. Through a strategic planning process which involved everyone – from the medical to the administrative staff, he increased the institution’s yearly income for its advancement.
Furthermore, he also addressed the effect of “brain drain” by supporting the development of high-potential surgeons, and by establishing the Institute of Advanced Nursing and Allied Health Care Professionals, the graduates of which have filled up the local vacancies created by the frequent migration of our health care professionals. He also pioneered many projects for the Department of Health such as the Preventive Nephrology Program and the Renal Disease Control Program.
Dr. Teodoro J. Herbosa
Dr. Teodoro “Ted” Herbosa is a Trauma Surgeon who specializes in Disaster Medicine, Emergency Medical Care, and Emergency Toxicology. He graduated from the University of the Philippines College of Medicine in 1983. He underwent an International Postgraduate Course in Surgery at Tel Aviv University in Israel in 1991, and trained in Trauma Surgery at the Cook County Hospital of Illinois in 1994. He also received training in Emergency and Crisis Management at the University of Geneva in Switzerland in 1996. He is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons, the Philippine College of Surgeons, and the Philippine Society of General Surgeons. He has been a board member of the World Association for Disaster and Emergency and the Malaysian Conjoint Board of Emergency Medicine in 2008.
He is currently a consultant at the Philippine General Hospital and a professor at the University of the Philippines College of Medicine. He has also engaged in research, collaborating with various prestigious institutions such as the Philippine General Hospital, the Philippine College of Surgeons, and the World Health Organization.
Pretty impressive, eh?
The Dynamic Duo of Health Care
At present, they are the “Batman and Robin” of the Philippine Health Care System. This is no small task, as President Aquino has declared health care to be no. 3 in his priority list. Being loyal sons of the Most Venerable Fraternity of the UP College of Medicine, they definitely have the principles, morals, and ideals necessary to deliver in this humungous responsibility. We can only watch in awe as their tandem does wonders in developing the Philippine Health Care System.
Brods, you make us proud!
