Who is Dr. Edwin Mercado, the new PhilHealth chief?

MANILA, Philippines – President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. named US-trained orthopedic surgeon Edwin Mercado as the new chief of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) on Tuesday, February 4, amid controversies surrounding the state insurer.

His appointment cuts short the term of Emmanuel Ledesma Jr., who was appointed as the president and chief executive officer of PhilHealth in July 2023. Under the law, PhilHealth presidents serve for a six-year non-renewable term.

The Presidential Communications Office said Mercado brings with him a wealth of experience in hospital management. He already took his oath of office before Marcos on Tuesday.

Here are things you need to know about the newly appointed PhilHealth chief:

Education and research work

Mercado is a physician who graduated from the University of the Philippines with a bachelor’s degree in Zoology in 1983 and graduated from its medical school in 1987. He also trained and was resident doctor at the Philippine General Hospital from 1989 to 1992, serving as the chief resident in his senior year.

He also received training in the United States in the ’90s. Mercado was a clinical research fellow at Medical City Healthcare in Texas and at the University of Cincinnati in Ohio. He also worked as a clinical fellow at the NYU Hospital for Joint Diseases in New York.

Mercado received an executive master’s degree in Healthcare Administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-Chapel Hill) in 2020.

Last 2023, he completed his master’s degree on Medical Science in Global Health Delivery from Harvard Medical School.

His Harvard thesis focused on the “acceptance and understanding of the provider, payer, and regulator stakeholders” on the Philippines’ Universal Healthcare Law (UHC). He worked with the state insurer and local government units in pursuit of the research study.

Mercado is currently a postdoctoral researcher under the mentorship of Dr. Chunling Lu.

“He is studying the cost of per-member payment for global coverage of in-patient services. He is involved in an ongoing study on using artificial intelligence as an assistive tool for community health workers to deliver primary care,” Malacañang said.

Hospital administration

Since 2021, he has been the vice chairman of Ayala-owned Mercado General Hospital Incorporated (MGHI) — the healthcare firm behind the QualiMed Health Network. He was also QualiMed’s founding president and chief executive officer.

MGHI has since expanded to include four general hospitals, six multi-specialty clinics, two surgery centers, 150 primary care corporate clinics, and a college dedicated to paramedical professions.

It also currently boasts a 400-strong team of practicing physicians.

The Ayala group through AC Health acquired a majority stake in MGHI in February 2021, which helped with its network expansion.

SIGNING. AC Health and QualiMed executives, including AC Health president and CEO Paolo Borromeo and QualiMed founding president Dr. Edwin Mercado, ink an acquisition deal that gives Ayala’s AC Health a majority stake in Mercado General Hospital, Inc., on February 26, 2021.

He was also a consultant of the Department of Health from August 2022 to June 2023, working to advise the department on the implementation of the UHC.

Teaching and advocacy

Mercado has been putting his research work to use — through educating the future generation of doctors and by helping out local government units in making healthcare more accessible.

Since August 2024, Mercado has been a faculty lecturer at Ateneo School of Medicine and Public Health.

Meanwhile, he is also working with the Zuellig Family Foundation, where he helps equip provincial or city health boards of local government units with knowledge on how to implement their Healthcare Provider Network.

Dr. Edwin Mercado (in peach) is a consultant for the Zuellig Family Foundation to help develop modules on universal healthcare concepts and the importance of the work done by provincial health boards in shaping universal healthcare.

“Seeing the sufferings of my countrymen who cannot afford proper healthcare, it has been my objective to see how I can help create a more equitable health system,” Mercado said in a profile of him published in September 2020.

“Ironically, we export the most nurses and doctors overseas of any country, yet we cannot take care of ourselves. We hope to create a model for affordable care for member-countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations as they integrate their economies and health care systems,” he added. – Rappler.com