The National Center for Mental Health and Valenzuela Medical Center are the first among the DOH-retained hospitals in NCR to be awarded with the CSC Seal of Excellence during the ARTA Report Card Survey (ARTA RCS) conducted by the CSC in 2013. 

The Seal of Excellence was conferred to NCMH and VMC by Hon. Francisco T. Duque III, Chairman of the Civil Service Commission and DOH Undersecretary Teodoro Herbosa during the awarding ceremony held at the Pag-asa Hall of NCMH last July 11, 2014.

The Seal of Excellence is awarded to an agency for its compliance to the provisions of Republic Act 9485, known as the Anti-Red Tape Act (ARTA). The process of validation includes posting of Citizen’s Charter, presence of a Public Assistance and Complaints Desk (PACD), observance of the No Noon Break policy, and the implementation of the Anti-Fixer Campaign, among others. Likewise, the agency has to pass the Report Card Survey conducted by the CSC. RCS is a tool that measures the quality, efficiency, and adequacy of different public services of an agency based on the clients’ perception.

NCMH got a final numerical score of 94.71% with equivalent descriptive rating of EXCELLENT. NCMH passed both the core area on Compliance with ARTA Provisions and Overall Client Satisfaction. On Compliance with ARTA Provisions, NCMH passed all the six subareas with perfect rating of 100% in Anti-Fixer Campaign, ID/Nameplates, No Hidden Costs, PACD and No Lunch Break policies subareas, while a passing grade of 85.61% was obtained in Citizen's Charter subarea.

Dr. Bernardino Vicente, Medical Center Chief of NCMH, and Dr. Venus Arain, Chairperson of Continuing Quality Improvement Committee and ARTA Point Person, received the wall-mountable glass seal and P 100,000.00 cash reward.

In his inspirational message, Chairman Duque congratulated the awardees for their significant achievement, reminded them to continue exemplifying excellence even after receiving the award, and challenged them to become a contagion of excellence among other hospitals who have yet to comply with ARTA. CSC continues to encourage all government agencies to comply with the Anti-Red Tape Act and join the march toward good governance and excellent public service.