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The JCI is a medical commission that helps international health-care organizations, public-health agencies and health ministries evaluate, improve and demonstrate the quality of patient care while at the same time accommodating specific legal, religious and cultural factors in a particular country. It has been accrediting health-care organizations since 1999 and, since then, have accredited approximately 450 public and private health-care organizations in 50 countries.
Its accreditation and certification process is acknowledged by many medical organizations as essential in ensuring a safe environment for their patients, staff and visitors. The JCI Accreditation and Certification procedure is seen as a platform to consider when choosing a hospital or a medical center.
Accreditation
Hospital accreditation is a major factor that should be considered by a patient in picking a medical institution that will provide medical care to him. It is defined by R. Rawlins (R. Rawlins, BMJ. 2001 March 17; 322(7287):674) as a public recognition by a national or international health-care accreditation body of the achievement of accreditation standards by a health-care organization, demonstrated through an independent external peer assessment of that organization’s level of performance in relation to the standards. This means that an institution accredited by a credible accreditation body possesses high standards of health-care service and patient care that add up to the reliability of the institution.
“The demand for quality in delivering health-care services has continuously risen throughout the years. Both national and international accreditation bodies have initiated quality assurance mechanisms for patients to have access to better health-care services,” Dr. Benjamin N. Alimurung, medical director of Makati Medical Center, said.
“The level of confidence and trust of patients in a hospital increases through accreditation, especially by the JCI, since it ensures that the accredited hospital not only performs evidence-based practices but also gives importance to efficiency, quality and effectiveness of health-care delivery and ensures a safe environment for the patients, staff and visitors. It would establish excellence in the delivery of health care and promote continuous quality improvement,” he added.
Makati Medical Center acquired accreditation and certification from JCI in January this year. Alimurung said the center had conducted activities on education and understanding of standards and intent of the standards. Elements of each standard were measured to prepare the hospital for the accreditation process.
“The management made sure that everybody participated in these activities. JCI standards were cascaded from the top management down to frontliners through lectures and educational materials. The activities were kept interesting as well as informative [through] inter-department games and weekly puzzles to encourage and maintain enthusiasm throughout the hospital,” he added.
These preparations by the top management and the frontliners of the hospital earned them the JCI accreditation, which is based on the latest Joint Commission International Accreditation Standards for Hospitals 4th Edition. Though this accreditation improved the already high standards that Makati Medical Center has been known for, Alimurung said the biggest beneficiary would be the patients since they are the ones being served by medical staff with clinical excellence in mind.
“It [JCI accreditation] assures the patients and their families of their involvement in the health-care process as partners. It is an opportunity for the hospital to benchmark with the best hospitals in the world granted with the same level of recognition.”
Makati Medical Center is only one of the four accredited and certified by JCI in the Philippines together with SLMC, which was accredited by the commission in 2003, affirming that the hospital meets the highest standards for patient care and organizational management.
SLMC has been surpassing expectations in medical excellence for over a century now, proving that its health and patient-care standards have become world-class. With astounding success anchored on five pillars of expertise-expert doctors, state-of-the-art technology, guaranteed patient safety, excellent success rate and passionate customer service, SLMC was the first hospital in the country to be accredited by the JCI.
Now with a new hospital building in Fort Bonifacio Global City, St. Luke’s is expected to reach a larger number of Filipinos who needs medical assistance. With its mission to provide outstanding outpatient care, SLMC is reputedly now the most admired hospital in the Philippines and an acknowledged leader in Asia.
Another JCI-accredited hospital in the country is The Medical City in Pasig City, a private, tertiary-care hospital, which offers impressive facilities as staging areas for the delivery of its cutting-edge health services. The hospital was first accredited by JCI in 2006 for maintaining the highest international standards of quality for health-care organizations.
It was reaccredited by the commission in 2009 and is continuing to provide the best patient care through its distinguished medical staff of 1,100 physicians, all of whom are experienced and recognized experts in their various fields of specialization.
Chong Hua Hospital in Cebu City also takes pride in being an accredited medical institution by JCI. Its patient-focused concept earned it the accreditation from the commission. Chong Hua Hospital tailors its patient care to the needs of every patient. It was the third medical institution accredited by JCI in 2009 after The Medical City in 2006.

reference: http://www.americanidol.com/

The guitar-strumming, foot-swiveling, five-o’clock-shadow-having Dave Matthews doppelgänger was many critics’ early pick to continue the recent trend of cute white boys who strum guitars winning the crown. So MTV News asked some of our favorite “Idol” experts to place their bets on who will be dusting confetti out of their hair when Ryan Seacrest reads the final results Wednesday night (May 23) and, well, it was (almost) unanimous.

“I think she came into the night with approximately zero percent chance of winning, and I don’t think that song changed that,” said “American Idol: The Untold Story” author Richard Rushfield when asked if Sanchez’s last-ditch chance to win was ruined by the treacly pop ballad “Change Nothing.” “I think she was doomed from the start. After the top 24 was unveiled, I tweeted a congratulation to Phillip Phillips for winning ‘American Idol’ season 11, and every week since, I’ve tweeted the same.”

Rushfield said this season gave him no reason to doubt that Phillips would continue the “cute white boy dynasty,” because, at this point, it would take something “monumental” to change that, and Sanchez wasn’t it. “If something happens five times, you can assume it will happen 20 times,” he said.

Longtime “Idol” blogger MJ Santilli sighed and checked the box marked “Phillip” as well, though she wasn’t enthused about doing it. “It’s just become predictable that there’s a certain sort of winner,” she said. “Maybe we need someone a little different. … If Jessica had come out and really killed all three of her songs, she might have had a chance to grab the casual viewers who turn in for the last few weeks, but she really had an uphill battle.”

The dissenting opinion came from TVLine.com “Idol” recapper Michael Slezak, who said he was pretty confident of a Sanchez victory. “Phil won the night [on Tuesday], but I think she has a slight edge on him for the season. I think he had a bit of a rocky road through his ‘Idol’ journey, and somewhere between the top-nine week and the top-four week, he wasn’t performing like an ‘Idol’ winner should.”

Even though Phillips came on strong the past few weeks — and Sanchez was almost booted before the judges saved her in week seven — Slezak said she pulled it back together and ended the season with some of her strongest performances. “There’s still a cosmic price to pay [for Phillip] for what happened midseason.

Former MTV News “Idol in 60 Seconds” star Jim Cantiello also predicted Phil would win way back in January, but he thinks show creator Simon Fuller’s song choice on Tuesday night’s show sealed the deal. “That set the tone, and to give Jessica a song that been covered so many times on ‘Idol’ [Whitney Houston's 'I Have Nothing'] seemed like a slap in the face,” he said. “And to give Phil a song only three people have sung before [Ben E. King's 'Stand by Me'] … it just set up Phil to do his thing.”

Cantiello said if Sanchez hadn’t gotten eliminated and saved, then there’s a part of him that thinks she might have a shot at an upset. “But [Phillip] was never even in the bottom, let alone getting voted off once.”

Who do you think is going to win “American Idol”? Let us know in comments below!

Get your “Idol” fix on MTV News‘ “American Idol” page, where you’ll find all the latest news, interviews and opinions.

Huge Pans in 2 days Concert lady Gaga in Pasay City , Philippines

Lady Gaga

Si Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta (ipinanganak noong Marso 28, 1986), mas kilala sa pangalan niya sa entablado na Lady Gaga ay isang Amerikanang recording artist. Siya ay nagsimula sa mga club sa mga lugar sa Lungsod ng Bagong York habang nagtatrabaho rin sa Interscope Records bilang isang tagasulat ng mga kanta para sa ilang mga kilalang mga mang-aawit gaya nila Akon, na matapos marinig na kumanta si Gaga ay hinikayat niya ang pinuno ng Interscope Records na si Jimmy Iovine para pumirma siya sa isang samahang kasunduan na may label at sa Kon Live Distribution label ni Akon.

Siya ay nagsimulang gumawa ng isang collective na tinatawag na Haus ni Gaga noong 2008, at inilabas ang kanyang debut album The Fame sa Agosto ng parehong taon. Ang album na napunta sa mga nangungunang mga kanta sa mga bansa tulad ng Nagkakaisang Kaharian at Kanada, at nanguna sa Billboard Top Electronic Albums chart sa Estados Unidos. Sa kasalukuyan, ang album ay naging isang nangunguna sa pandaigdigang mundo ng pop music sa singles na “Just Dance” (iminungkahi para sa Best Dance-record sa 51 Awards Grammy) at “Poker Face.” Matapos gawin ang simula kanila New Kids on the Block at ang Pussycat Dolls, si Gaga ay nagpamalas pa sa kanyang unang tour, ang The Fame Ball Tour. Nakabenta siya ng 20 milyon na digital sales at 3 milyon album sa buong mundo, na naging sanhi na isa sa mga pinakamahusay-nagbentang artisa ng 2009.[3]

Sa musika, siya ay sinasabi niyang inspirasyon niya sina glam rockers tulad ni David Bowie at Queen, pati na rin ang mga pop singers tulad nila Michael Jackson at Madonna. Ang iba pang mga impluwensiya niya ay sa fashion at ang kanyang relasyon sa gay community.

reference: Wikipedia

“The Ombudsman testified and said 82 dollar accounts exist,” defense lawyer and spokesperson Tranquil Salvador III told reporters in a press conference, “pero iyong 82 na iyon, kung susuriin… ay tatlo o apat lang.

“Nasuri na ‘yan ng mga accountant… Ang matitiyak namin, ‘yung 82 ‘di talaga 82,” Salvador added.

Asked if his comments constitute an admission that Corona is indeed the owner of those accounts, Salvador said, “We don’t say that they exist. We don’t deny or admit anything.”

One of the charges in the impeachment complaint against Corona is culpable violation of the Constitution and betrayal of public trust for failure to publicly disclose the contents his Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net worth. Copies of his SALN circulated to the media did not contain any dollar accounts.

Salvador said they would leave it up to Corona to explain the dollar accounts when he testifies in his own trial on Tuesday, May 22.

82 accounts in five banks

Early this week, Morales gave a presentation during the impeachment trial based on a report containing details of Corona’s purported dollar accounts from the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC). An analysis of the report done by the Commission on Audit showed that Corona made “circuitous transactions” in 82 dollar accounts in five banks, Morales had testified.

During Friday’s press conference, Corona lawyers said a close scrutiny of the AMLC report revealed only three accounts.

The prosecution, after studying the AMLC report, claimed that Corona could have amassed more than 600 million pesos.

But the defense said the amount could be far less than what the prosecution claimed.

Last March, the defense said they managed to reduce the number of Corona’s properties from 45–as the prosecution alleged in January–to just five, after presenting witnesses to prove that some of the properties either did not belong to the Coronas or were already sold by the family.

“Like sa 45 properties before, kapag trinace, iyong iba cancelled na o nalipat lang kaya it boiled down to five,” said another spokesperson, Karen Jimeno.

She said they enlisted the help of accountants because the AMLC report contained debit and credit “transactional” entries that were eventually traced to just three accounts.

source: http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/258660/news/nation/defense-corona-dollar-accounts-just-three-not-82

The struggling Internet company had hoped that Thompson, who became CEO is January, would turn things around. But he now becomes the fourth CEO to leave Yahoo in five years. He is being replaced by Yahoo’s global media head Ross Levinsohn.

Thompson’s exit was encouraged by Third Point, the activist hedge fund that owns nearly 6 percent of Yahoo shares. Third Point claimed that Thompson had padded his resume with a degree in computer science from Stonehill College. Thompson did earn an accounting degree from Stonehill, a Catholic school near Boston, in 1979, a fact that Yahoo correctly lists. But he did not earn a computer science degree.

Third Point’s CEO, Dan Loeb, and two of the hedge fund’s other nominees will join the Yahoo board. Five directors who had planned to leave later this year will now leave immediately. Interim CEO Levinsohn is someone that Loeb had suggested for the job.

In a statement issued through Yahoo, Loeb said he was “delighted” to join the Yahoo board and promised to “work collaboratively with our fellow directors.”

Yahoo dumped its previous CEO, Carol Bartz, in September, disappointed that she hadn’t been able to increase revenue. When Thompson came on board, he made big changes immediately. Co-founder Jerry Yang left the board in January. Thompson announced a reorganization and plans to lay off 2,000 workers, or about 14 percent of the workforce

But Third Point, which had pushed for Yang to leave and applauded Bartz’s dismissal, still wasn’t happy. On May 3, it issued a press release with what turned out to be an explosive accusation: Thompson had embellished his resume.

Privately, Thompson told his colleagues that he wasn’t responsible for the incorrect information. He blamed a Chicago headhunting firm, Heidrick & Struggles.

In an internal memo last week, Heidrick & Struggles denied Thompson’s accusation. “This allegation is verifiably not true and we have notified Yahoo! to that effect,” CEO Kevin Kelly wrote to employees. On Sunday, a spokesman for the firm declined to comment.

Carlos Kirjner, a senior analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein, declined to comment on whether Yahoo’s board would be wise to oust Thompson. But he did suggest that Thompson’s previous job, as president of the fast-growing PayPal, hadn’t prepared him for Yahoo.

“It is very different to be CEO of a growth company, making choices between opportunities, and to be CEO of a company in turnaround mode, whose parts are declining or losing share,” Kirjner said

Thompson’s resume discrepancy might have been more forgivable at a company that was making money for shareholders, said James Post, a management professor at Boston University.

“Yahoo has been embattled for such a long time that there are a lot of people prepared to believe the worst about that company,” said Post, who specializes in corporate governance and professional ethics. “When you’re angry at the management and the board, when nothing’s going right and you’re losing money, it’s understandable that shareholders would adopt an ‘off with their head’ attitude.”

source: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/yahoo-names-levinsohn-interim-ceo-195421892–finance.html

In the last days before the vote, expressed by members of the cabinet of President Barack Obama to support gay marriage and former President Bill Clinton recorded phone message urged voters to reject the change. Opponents also organized marches, run TV ads and speeches, including one with Jay Bakker, son of televangelists Jim Bakker and Tammy Faye Bakker’s late.

Meanwhile, supporters run their own ad campaigns and church leaders called Sunday congregations to vote for change. The Reverend Billy Graham, who at 93 remains influential even his last crusade in 2005, was presented to the full-page ad in the newspaper that supports the amendment.

Both sides spent a combined $ 3 million on their campaigns.

North Carolina law that bans gay marriage, and nine other states, but a change is effectively slam the door shut on gay marriages. Amendment also goes beyond state law by emptying other types of national trade unions in conducting legal status, opponents warn that could disrupt the protective orders for unmarried couples .

Six states – all except the Northeast Iowa – and the District of Columbia allow same sex marriages.

The North Carolina amendment was placed on the ballot after Republicans took control of the state legislature after the 2010 election, a role that the GOP has not had in 140 years.

Joe Easterling, who described himself as a devout Christian, voted for amendments to a vote has taken place at Wake Forest.

“I know that some people may argue that the Bible is not necessarily applicable or not it should be applicable to such issues. But even looking at nature itself, procreation is impossible without a man and a woman. And because of the things that I think it is important that the state of North Carolina law in accordance with the laws of nature, but more importantly, may God’s law. ”

Linda Toanone to vote against the amendment, said people are born gay and it is not their choice.

“We believe that everyone should have the same rights as others, if you are gay, lesbian, straight -. What,” she said.

North Carolina is the latest presidential swing state to weigh in on gay marriage. Florida, Virginia and Ohio all have constitutional amendments against gay marriage and election-year uncertainty about gay marriage Obama has come under fresh examination.

Obama, who supports gay rights most, Hill stopped short of gay marriage. Without clarification, he said the past year and a half that his personal view of the matter is “progress.”

Education Secretary Arne Duncan broke ranks with the White House on Monday, as his clear support for same-sex marriage a day after Vice President Joe Biden said he was “completely comfortable” with same-sex couples the same rights heterosexual married couples.

A fault line that could determine the outcome is the succession. Older voters, who seem more reliable voters expected to support the change.

State House Speaker Thom Tillis, a republican from a suburb of Charlotte, said even if amendments are adopted, it will be returned by today’s young adult age.

“This is a generational issue,” Tillis said a group of students at North Carolina State University in March about the changes he supports. “If it goes, I think it will be demolished within 20 years.”

Amendment also goes beyond state law by emptying other types of national trade unions in conducting legal status, opponents warn that could disrupt the protective orders for unmarried couples .

“Also, this change is against women, I think, because even in times of change, other laws say that people who are not married at all, they can submit cases of domestic abuse if they live in their significant others. Which is wrong, “Toanone said.

In North Carolina, has more than 500,000 voters cast their ballots before Tuesday, which is over 2008 primary, when Obama and Hillary Clinton battled for the Democratic presidential candidate. Both sides said that bodes well for them.

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The ship is reported to hold at least 300 passengers on the river Brahmaputra in Assam state.

Reports say more than 100 people are missing, while dozens of others or were rescued or made it to safety.

Poor safety standards means ferry accidents are common in the river, but this is one of the worst disasters in recent memory.

Police officials said it happened in the remote district of Dhubri during heavy winds and rain.

Dhubri is about (215 miles) 350 km west of Assam’s main city, Guwahati.

Boat capsized and broke in two during the storm, police said.

“I can see people being swept away as the river current was too strong,” said a witness to the accident, the Rahul Karmakar, AFP news agency.

Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi state said emergency crews were in place, but nightfall and bad weather is hampering rescue efforts.
Continue reading the main story
Indian boat disaster

The ferry carried no lifeboats or life jackets, and was overloaded with people and goods, with passengers sitting on the roof, according to a police officer quoted by Reuters news agency.

In a statement, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said he was “shocked and saddened” by the incident.

Mr. Singh has “given instructions for all possible assistance to the government of Assam in relief operations,” the statement added.

Boats are a common way of transportation in the area, which is dotted with small islands and villages along the banks of the river, reports Sanjoy Majumder BBC in Delhi.

Many of the boats are overcrowded with poor security features, or minimal, our correspondent adds.

more at bbcnews

“Once back in a floating state, the accident would be withdrawn at an Italian port,” said Costa Cruises in a statement.

A decision on what to do with the ship after being dragged will be up to the Italian authorities, Pier Luigi Foschi under, President of Costa Cruises.

US-based Titan Salvage of Florida and Micoperi, an Italian-based storage, have been selected to recover and tow away Concordia, Costa said.

The announcement follows news that Costa Saturday the bodies of all but two of the 32 people believed to have died in the accident were found.

Cruise ship hit the rocks and turned on its side on January 13 from Italian island Giglio.

Recovery teams for weeks in search of submerged decks and cabins for those unable to escape the sinking ship.

Liner, owned by Genoa-based Costa Cruises carried about 3200 passengers and 1000 crew members when the rocks fell.

Concordia captain, Francesco Schettino, still under house arrest while he was being checked for possible criminal prosecution.

It stands on charges of murder, causing a shipwreck, leaving the ship, in the absence of a Coast Guard accident report and the destruction of natural habitat, a prosecutor said last month. A part of the coastal waters designated as Giglio of protected marine habitat.

Schettino’s first officer, Ciro Ambrosio, and six other officials on both vessels and companies in Costa Genova investigation on charges including murder, shipwreck, and not reporting the accident, the prosecutor said.

To date nobody has been charged.

Schettino said the previous managers of the cruise line Costa instructed him to sail around the island and has denied accusations that he was sailing too fast. He said the boat hit a rock was not recorded on his maps of the area.

source; http://edition.cnn.com/2012/04/22/world/europe/italy-concordia-salvage/index.html?hpt=hp_t3

Zero survive  have been found, officials said.

The Bhoja Air Boeing 737-200 had been making its first evening flight from Karachi to Islamabad, where the weather was cloudy, officials said.

Authorities twice changed the number people reported to be on board, but by Friday afternoon appeared to agree on the figure.

The crash occurred near the Chaklala airbase, a military site used by the country’s air force, which is adjacent to the Benazir Bhutto International Airport in Islamabad.

Debris and body parts were scattered across the crash site as workers sifted through the wreckage in the heavily populated residential area. Four villages were affected by the crash and debris from the plane has been recovered within a kilometer of the site, Interior Minister A Rehman Malik said in a interview with Pakistani media.

At least 110 bodies have been recovered from the scene, while more than a 150 bags filled with body parts have been transported to hospitals across the region, according to Farkhand Iqbal, a municipal official in Islamabad.

The flight data recorder, which is considered a key component in determining what may have caused the tragedy, was recovered, officials said.
First images of Pakistan plane crash
Click to expandClick to expand

The Bhoja airliner had been flying from the southern seaport city of Karachi and crashed just before touching down in the capital after its 3½-hour flight.

Local authorities say the crash site is located about five aeronautical miles from the airport in Islamabad.

Weather reports indicated that conditions in the area included thunderstorms and limited visibility, according to CNN meteorologist Mari Ramos.

Authorities are examining what may have caused the crash and the potential for additional casualties at the site of the wreckage.

Investigators are “going to be looking at technology,” aviation security consultant Greg Feith said. “What kind of radio equipment, what kind of ground proximity warning system the aircraft was equipped with, weather radar, things like that … since the weather may be a factor in this accident.”

Pakistani Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani on Friday expressed “deep shock and grief over the tragedy,” ordering his country’s Civil Aviation Authority “to gear up all its resources for rescue operation,” state media reported.

A separate inquiry into the incident has been launched by Pakistan’s Safety Investigation Board, and two crisis operation rooms have been set up at airports in both Islamabad and Karachi to provide information to the affected families.

A Boeing spokeswoman, meanwhile, said the American manufacturer “stands ready to provide technical assistance to the Civil Aviation Authority of Pakistan.”

The airliner was originally sold in 1985, said Julie O’Donnell.

“The Boeing Company wishes to extend its profound condolences to the families and friends of those lost today in the Bhoja Air accident in Pakistan, as well as wishes for the recovery of those injured,” said O’Donnell.

Responding to allegations that the aircraft was not in good condition to fly, Defense Secretary Nargis Sethi told a local television station that the government has initiated “an immediate investigation.”

“Whether it was 10, 8 years old, or not airworthy is something that we can’t confirm yet,” Sethi said.

But Bhoja Air station manager Zahid Bangish told a Pakistani television station later Friday that the “aircraft was new, not the old one and unairworthy.”

The crash is reminiscent of one in 2010,when 152 people were killed as a Pakistani passenger plane crashed on the outskirts of Islamabad, Pakistan’s capital. That plane was also was coming from Karachi when it crashed into a hillside while trying to land, officials said at the time.

Four years earlier, another airliner crashed in central Pakistan, leaving 45 dead.

The first known commercial passenger airplane crash occurred in Pakistan in 1953 when a Canadian Pacific DH-106 Comet crashed shortly after takeoff from Karachi. That crash killed 11 people on board.

source: http://edition.cnn.com/2012/04/20/world/pakistan-plane-crash/index.html?hpt=hp_t1