31/03/2026
The Story of the SMMC, the First ASRH (Acute Stroke-Ready Hospital) in Isabela and its Brain Attack Team (BAT): How Benevolent Leadership + Sense of Purpose Translated to Advocacy, Passion and Continuous Pursuit of Excellence in Acute Stroke Care
Two years ago, St. Matthias Medical Center of Isabela first opened its doors. It's a modest 50-bed Level II hospital that sits on a sprawling 3.8 hectare lot located in Brgy. Lalauanan, Tumauini along Maharlika Highway.
It's also the 4th hospital in my professional career I was fortunate enough to have been formally asked to help establish/organize its Brain Attack Team (the first was The Medical City TMC Pasig in 2006-2007, 2) TMC Iloilo in 2012, 3) CUDMC in 2022).
Barely six months after it opened, in September 2024, the center, through its very involved medical director Mary Ann Fontanares-Valdez with the support of its BOD members and hospital administration, and chief nurse Zoraida Tumamao Garcia, conducted its first interdepartmental Brain Attack Team (BAT) workshop.
By February 2025, the very supportive Board of Directors approved the proposal for the institutionalization of the BAT response system, allowing the hospital pharmacy to acquire/purchase and stock the clot-buster drug, Alteplase.
A month later, in March, exactly a year after hospital opening, the BAT had its first IV thrombolysis patient.
In May 2025, the center was officially granted a 3-year certification as an ASRH-Acute Stroke Ready Hospital. This was physically awarded to SMMC at the Stroke Society of the Philippines (SSP) convention. I believe, as mentioned to me, SMMC is the first ASRH hospital in Isabela province to have been certified.
To date, the center's BAT has a total of 18 thrombolysis cases in 13 months, out of 71 ischemic stroke cases, boasting of a thrombolysis rate of 25.4% (20% in 2025 alone). Despite the modest number of stroke cases coming in--as SMMC is still a very young hospital--this thrombolysis rate is currently at par with hospitals in EU/UK/US (albeit, this rate may decrease or vary as hospital census increases; with continuous quality improvement, may even increase).
Most cases were thrombolysed within 45 minutes or less from patient arrival!
In the case of SMMC, what is most palpable is its culture of combined sense of advocacy among its leaders/managers and the sense of commitment and institutional pride among its hospital staff that creates a mutual pursuit of excellence in patient care, translating to an extraordinary, orchestrated sense of urgency everytime staff hears that page "Brain Attack Team!".
Consistency is key. And the SMMC BAT understands this perfectly.
