The National Kidney and Transplant Institute (NKTI) bagged two awards in the Civil Service Commission’s (CSC) Search for Outstanding Government Workers 2021—the 2021 Presidential Lingkod Bayan Award and the 2021 CSC Pagasa Awards.
Executive Director Dr. Rose Marie Liquete won the 2021 Presidential Lingkod Bayan Award for her endeavors in providing a new life for patients with end stage kidney disease through kidney transplantation.
NKTI also won the 2021 CSC Pagasa Awards for its Covid-19 Crisis Management Team, led by Dr. Romina Danguilan, Deputy Executive Director III, together with Dr. Nerissa Gerial, Deputy Executive Director III, Dr. Joseph Michael Jaro, Department Manager III, and Dr. Glenda Pamugas, Medical Specialist III.
These prestigious awards were conferred to the NKTI awardees during a virtual ceremony organized by the CSC on Monday, November 15, 2021.
Liquete is the first Filipina transplant surgeon and pushed for the creation of satellite kidney centers in government and private health-care facilities.
She continues to share her expertise in guiding young transplant surgeons and motivating them to serve in all parts of the country, bringing this miracle of life to more Filipinos.
Likewise, she tirelessly works on organ donation programs demonstrating that organ donors are heroes for patients with kidney failure who dream of a new life. She assisted in formulating policies to cover dialysis and transplantation by PhilHealth, making these life-saving procedures more accessible to Filipinos all over the country.
As the executive director of the NKTI, she has expanded the hospital’s facilities, improved its infrastructure, making it a globally competitive training institution, and a hospital geared towards delivering performance excellence in all aspects of patient care.
The Covid-19 Crisis Management Team, on the other hand, led the Institute’s proactive and innovative response in meeting the challenges of the pandemic and providing dialysis services for patients all over the National Capital Region when their dialysis facilities closed down.
Under their leadership, a tent “city” that accommodated 100 patients was built on the grounds surrounding the hospital’s Emergency Room early in the pandemic. These tents were composed of various patient areas, a tent for dialysis access placement, a radiology tent, and even a satellite operating room to continue NKTI’s operations while the main hospital was undergoing retrofitting for this infectious pandemic.
There were 3 tents with 12 hemodialysis machines, a tent for peritoneal dialysis patients, and a separate tent for kidney transplant patients.
They crafted the NKTI’s Manual of Operations during the pandemic, documenting the policies and procedures developed to ensure efficiency, safety, and continuous hospital operations. Innovative procedures using blood purification, namely, hemoperfusion, became part of the Institute’s algorithm to treat Covid-19.
This treatment effectively removes inflammatory proteins from the patient’s blood, released by the body in massive amounts leading to organ damage, in response to Covid-19. Pioneering this treatment for Covid-19 led the Institute to save more lives, in a population with the highest risk of dying.
Image courtesy of NKTI