Tamang Alaga, FEU-NRMF sign MOA that will benefit employees

For an institution that thrives in the business of taking care of people, it is only fitting that it looks after its own. That is exactly what Far Eastern University – Dr. Nicanor Reyes Medical Foundation (FEU-NRMF) has been doing for the longest time. Now, the organization is taking it a notch higher as it has partnered with RiteMed Philippines Inc.’s (RiteMed) Grupong Tamang Alaga for the welfare of its workers.

(Standing from left) FEU-NRMF Community Engagement Associate John Vincent Gulla; FEU-NRMF Presidential Chief of Staff Kevyn Joseph Reyes; FEU-NRMF President-Employees Association Pancho Manucom; FEU-NRMF Chief Human Resources Officer Joseph Christian L. Reyes; (seated from left) FEU-NRMF President and COO Juan Enrique J. Reyes; RiteMed Philippines Inc. President Atty. Jose Maria Ochave; FEU-NRMF Chief Medical Officer Dr. Nolan Pecho; FEU-NRMF Chief Pharmacist Verna Angela C. Detabali; FEU-NRMF Coordinator for Community Engagement Ria M. Raborar; FEU-NRMF Employees Association Officer Bernard Barranco

FEU-NRMF, the non-stock, non-profit medical foundation operating a medical school and a hospital center with over 800 employees, recently signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with RiteMed, the country’s leading brand of generic medicines.

The partnership primarily aims to provide employees of FEU-NRMF health and wellness education, and access to affordable quality medicine through the “Tamang Alaga Program.” Tamang Alaga is a platform for collaboration among different companies, led by RiteMed, to help institutions and companies provide additional healthcare benefits to their employees and their families.

“Our motto in Grupong Tamang Alaga is doing well by doing good. It is difficult to do good and make sure it is sustainable, so we partner with institutions like FEU-NRMF who share our values, who believe that quality and responsive healthcare products and services need not be expensive if only we can all work together. It’s some sort of a Fellowship of the Ring.  We have been working with FEU-NRMF on many socially-oriented campaigns that today’s MOA signing is really just to formalize whatever we have been doing for the past years,” said Atty. Jose Maria Ochave, President of RiteMed and Senior Vice President of Unilab.

Atty. Jose Maria Ochave emphasized Grupong Tamang Alaga’s motto, “doing well by doing good”, and that it needs people who want to do good and people they share the same values with.

“They say if you want to go fast, go alone. But if you want to go far, go together. Unilab has always been one of our deepest and closest partners. We are very happy to see that our partnership is continuing to grow. Rest assured that we are also one with you in not only doing well but doing good which is at the core of our business,” shared Juan Enrique Reyes, President and COO of FEU-NRMF.

FEU-NRMF President and COO Juan Enrique Reyes is elated that “our partnership with RiteMed is continuing to grow.”

Right Care from RiteMed

Born out of RiteMed’s continued efforts to help the Filipino people get better, Tamang Alaga is an advocacy program that serves as a guide and service for patients. It ensures that the patient is given the right information about his or her illness, the right assessment and expert advice, and the right guidance to ensure proper adherence to medication and other medical interventions.

FEU-NRMF’s community service has made an impact to a lot of community-based initiatives in various local government units.

To further illustrate the concept, Anelle Forbes, Division Vice President for Strategic Marketing, explained that “the program is divided into five components: Tamang Kaalaman (Right Information), Tamang Gabay (Proper Guidance), Tamang Nutrisyon (Proper Nutrition), Tamang Ehersisyo (Proper Rest & Exercise), and Tamang Konsulta (Knowing When to See a Physician).”

“The thrust of the Tamang Alaga program is to provide access to information that people need to prevent diseases and/or manage their conditions. That’s TamangAlaga. With this partnership, the primary goal is to allow the people, starting with Filipino employees and their families, to have access to high quality but best value healthcare products and services, and at the same time help employers optimize, if not reduce, their healthcare costs by linking them directly with the companies that provide these products and services.”

Tamang Alaga Benefit

In the past, the Tamang Alaga program has only been visible in medical and wellness events. The recently signed MOA between RiteMed and FEU-NRMF is a first as it augments employee benefits beyond the government-mandated standard. Significantly, it even extends the Tamang Alaga Benefits to employee dependents.

(From left) FEU-NRMF’s President and COO Juan Enrique Reyes and RiteMed’s President Atty. Jose Maria Ochave

“Both management and employees have been looking forward to this unique partnership because the end goal here is to be able to afford quality medicines at an affordable price, not just for employees but for their beloved dependents as well. That ties in with what we aspire, which is to take care of our employees,” shares FEU-NRMF Human Resources Department Head Joseph Christian Reyes.

FEU-NRMF has always been proud that it provides its employees with free medication, free hospitalization, and unlimited coverage for in-patient and out-patient cases. They also have educational scholarships for children of employees who would like to take pre-med courses or continue to study medicine.

Recently, the institution was the sole category winner for Industrial Peace and Harmony by the Employers Federation of the Philippines (ECOP), an award that is given every two years. It only goes to show how the management and the union work peacefully and productively together.

Meaningful Partnerships

With the Tamang Alaga Program formalized between FEU-NRMF and RiteMed, the latter is open to collaborating with institutions and organizations that share the same principles that the company stands for. “We want to make sure that affordable quality health care, including products and services, are made available to everyone. The government has time and again emphasized the need to make sure that every Filipino has access to quality and affordable healthcare. However, the bulk of healthcare expenses are in the private sector and are out-of-pocket. The challenge, therefore, is for the private sector to find sustainable partnership models that will respond to the government’s call.  We start by helping institutions like FEU-NRMF who have the welfare of their employees at heart to optimize the benefits they give to their employees and their families.  Eventually, we will extend this to other companies who also genuinely care for their employees. We envision a “fellowship” of companies and institutions, whether in the private and public sector, who want to have, within our lifetime, a more efficient, equitable, and responsive healthcare system ” said Atty. Ochave.

Far Eastern University-Nicanor Reyes Medical Foundation, located along Regalado Avenue in Fairview, Quezon City is a non-stock, non-profit medical foundation that operates a medical school and a hospital center with over 800 employees.

In conclusion, Atty. Ochave shared that FEU-NRMF and RiteMed’s joint effort is only the beginning of many partnerships to come. “Tamang Alaga is a platform of collaboration. RiteMed serves merely as a convenor.  So we would like to invite others to be part of it. Let’s sit down and identify the areas where we can do something. We need to explore various engagement models to ensure that affordable quality health care is given to our people – because medicine and healthcare don’t have to be expensive.”

ADVT.