The Medical City introduces a one-stop care destination for brain health

By The Medical City (TMC), Ortigas | January 17, 2022

The Medical City (TMC) Ortigas Institute of the Neurological Sciences (INS) recently launched a specialized facility which houses the outpatient centers of the three departments namely – Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry – with the goal of providing patients complete and coordinated care.

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By consolidating services under these departments on one floor, TMC-INS allows collaboration and provides an easy transition between various levels of care. The facility is a one stop destination for easy access to diagnosis, treatment, therapies, and rehabilitative services. Services and programs for patients seeking neurologic and psychiatric care are available in one easy-to-access location for the patient’s convenience.

Aside from the Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry clinics, the EMG or Electromyography rooms, EEG or Electroencephalography room, and the High Dependency (Transition Care) Unit can also be found in the INS floor.

The unit is a step down as well as an Anticipatory area for neurologic patients who have been stabilized and discharged from the Critical Care Unit but still needing close monitoring. Stroke patients who may have mild deficits but have high potentials to deteriorate because of the location of brain involvement and/or unstable comorbidities, and patients to be transitioned from the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) to standard care areas.

This step down facility is under the Stroke/Neuro-critical Care Unit of the INS and staffed by nurses trained for stroke and neuro-critical care. Patients may be admitted directly from the Emergency Department, ICU, or regular care areas.

There is also a spacious area for Neurorehabilitation in collaboration with the hospital’s Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Department.

The complex also includes the Movement Center and Memory, Language and Thinking Center (MeLT). The Movement Center accommodates patients with movement disorders such as Parkinson’s disease and Dystonia. Launched in 2016, this center also offers movement disorders consult and profiling, Basic Memory Screening and Botulinum toxin chemodenervation therapy.

MeLT is a one-stop shop for patients with Dementia and other neurodegenerative diseases for assessment, evaluation, and management. It also provides holistic care to individuals with memory impairment including screening for anxiety, depression, caregiver burden, and even long-term follow-up check-ups.

The Center for Behavioral Health (CBH), which was originally located on the Ground Floor of the Podium Building (The Medical City Ortigas), has also moved to the INS Floor. Launched in 2018, the CBH is the first in the country to offer services that cover the entire continuum of mental health care–from wellness to illness, from assessment to early recognition, to therapeutic intervention to home care.

CBH also provides care that necessitates one therapist to care that compel shared responsibility among several team members ranging from individual therapy to group therapy, and from promotive to preventive care.

“It’s only fitting that we are here together because there is no way for the Institute to be united than to physically share a common space where exchanging and sharing of ideas [happen],” said Dr. Rafael S. Claudio, TMC Chief Medical Officer, during the inauguration of the INS Floor at the 6th Floor of the Nursing Tower (TMC Ortigas).

“The patients that we serve, those needing diagnostic procedures, psychiatric consultation services, and assistance in accessing the services that they need now have a place to go to,” said Mercedes Leido, INS Operations Manager.

Leido also shared that in terms of patient care, the proximity among INS outpatient services will enable faster and easier patient workflow, while spacious consultation and procedure rooms will give patients more comfort and provide them with a safer environment.

The inauguration of the INS Floor held last December 6 also served as an avenue for The Medical City Neurology Week’s 2021 kick-off. Present during the inauguration were Chief Operating Officer Atty. Martin P. Samson, Chief Marketing Officer Dr. Christian G. Delos Reyes, and Dr. Claudio.

Along with them were INS Director Dr. Louie C. Racelis; Dr. John Jerusalem A. Tiongson, chairman of the Department of Neurology; Dr. Almario G. Jabson, chairman of the Neurosurgery Department; Dr. Ma. Monica Cardinez-Tan, chairwoman of the Department of Psychiatry, Dr. Cornelio G. Banaag, Jr., section head of the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and doctors and staff from the INS departments and units.

The theme of the Neurology Week celebration was “#getLINCDT Log In: Neurologic Care in the era of Digital Transformation.” Among the highlights of the week-long celebration were a two-day scientific forum, launch of the TMC Multi-hub and Spokes model for stroke care, and a lay forum on COVIBESITY (COVID and obesity).

This “spanking new unit” as Dr. Racelis described it, is spacious enough for three departments to share for them to cater to their growing number of patients.

“We might have the same genotype (type of species) but with different phenotypes (traits or characteristics). We can be described as a pot with three different flowers,” said Dr. Tiongson.

Dr. Racelis also shared a story about sailors from the west who were able to reach their destinations because they had a crow’s nest above their mast that enabled them to see far beyond the horizon and look out for storms and see the future better.

The crow’s nest in the story is the new INS facility which serves as an avenue for doctors to treat patients with neurological concerns and breaking through the limits that the pandemic has bordered upon it.

The modern facility also promotes a relaxing environment conducive to healing and recovery. In light of the new normal, all INS services are accessible online which are aligned to the medical institution’s theme moving forward: TMC Care Anytime, Anywhere.

For inquiries or to schedule an appointment, please email the Department of Neurology at neurology@themedicalcity.com or call tel. nos. 8988-1000 / 8988-7000 ext. 6270.