It’s Time Iloilo Hospitals, Doctors, and Their Secretaries Treat Patients Properly

By Ken Lerona

There’s a certain kind of indignity that persists in our hospitals—not in the form of medical malpractice, but in how patients and their folks are made to feel invisible, inferior, and, frankly, undeserving of basic courtesy.

We don’t talk about it enough. We Ilonggos are patient, forgiving, and often too respectful for our own good. But the way some Iloilo clinics and hospitals—particularly the staff who serve as gatekeepers to medical care—treat patients is no longer just an anecdote. It is a systemic flaw.

Let me name it plainly: many doctors’ secretaries in Iloilo, especially in high-traffic private hospitals, treat patients not as clients but as nuisances. We seem to be a burden on their daily routine.

Friday the 13th Incident

Take what happened just last Friday the 13th. After a long and expensive two-hour neurological test for my father at the hospital run by nuns along General Luna Street, we were advised to proceed to the doctor’s clinic at 2:30 PM. Dutifully, we followed.

When I approached the secretary to politely check in, she didn’t even look up properly. With a dismissive wave of her hand—yes, the hand—she said: “Wala pa di si doc. Wala pa man kapanaog ang taga neuro. Didto kamo sa waiting area.” She shooed us away like flies, then slammed the door in our faces.

We weren’t walk-ins. We weren’t begging. We were paying clients. The tests alone cost thousands, excluding the doctor’s professional fee.

Not an Isolated Case

This isn’t an isolated experience. Over the years, I’ve witnessed countless variations of the same disrespect—from curt frontliners who act like demi-gods behind reception desks to convoluted billing processes that make families jump through hoops while already weighed down by illness.

When my mother was hospitalized last month, I settled our running balance daily. Still, I was repeatedly asked to top up at the cashier because the credit window—just ₱30,000—was insufficient to cover medicines, tests, and room bills. When I tried to request an increase, I was told to go to the Credit & Collection Department—which was closed on weekends.

The result? Overpayment. I had to stand my ground at the cashier just to get a refund—one that should never have required pleading.

And still, we smile. We say thank you. Because in our culture, we have been conditioned to tolerate inefficiencies and indignities in the name of deference.

A Systemic Problem

Let’s be clear: this isn’t about blaming individual secretaries or overworked staff. This is about holding institutions and their leadership accountable for designing systems where such behaviors are normalized, unchecked, and allowed to persist.

Stress is not an excuse. Poor service is not the price of being busy. If your people are stretched too thin, then your system is broken—and it is management’s duty to fix it. That is the essence of systems thinking and human-centered design.

In fact, I reached out to this hospital’s administration in 2021 to offer a free learning session on patient experience and service design. Some improvements followed, but clearly, much remains to be done.

Now I hear they are vying for ISO certification. I sincerely hope the audit goes beyond SOPs and compliance checklists. I hope it includes a full patient walk—from entrance to discharge. Because no amount of laminated mission statements or air-conditioned lounges can mask the small, daily indignities felt by people already in distress.

Hospitals Are Places of Healing

Let me say this plainly to all medical institutions in Iloilo: your patients are not beggars. They are not intrusions. They are clients—and more than that, they are human beings deserving of empathy, clarity, and respect.

A hospital is not just a place of healing. It is a place where power must be exercised with humility, and where those who serve—from doctors to janitors—must remember that they are in the business of compassion.

It’s time we demand better.

And it’s time they deliver.

Ken Lerona is a business consultant with over 20 years of marketing and branding experience. He conducts talks and workshops for private and government organizations and consults on innovation and reputational risk management. Connect with him on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/kenlerona.