AC Health's Rhys Buccat takes on expanded role at Healthway

Rhys Buccat (pictured) has been appointed head of marketing, communications, and brand experience at Healthway Medical Network, adding a broader marketing and patient experience mandate to his existing communications role at Ayala Healthcare Holdings (AC Health).

The appointment took effect on 1 September 2026 and is concurrent with Buccat’s position as head of strategic communications and external engagement at AC Health.

In his continued AC Health role, Buccat will support the group’s broader communications agenda, including representing AC Health in the Ayala Social Infrastructure Council and the Ayala Communications Council.

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At Healthway, he will lead the network’s marketing, strategic communications and brand experience agenda as it continues to expand. The network currently spans seven major hospitals, 18 multi-specialty centres and close to 350 corporate clinics.

Buccat said the opportunity was driven by the potential he sees in the Healthway brand as its network grows.

“As Healthway continues to grow, there are significant opportunities to further elevate the brand, sharpen its narrative, and create more consistent and meaningful patient touchpoints across the network. Working directly with the Healthway team also gives me the opportunity to help drive initiatives that can create impact across the entire network,” he told MARKETING-INTERACTIVE.

His new remit also marks a return to marketing. Before joining Ayala Corporation’s brand and reputation management team in 2020, Buccat was a content manager under Metrobank's marketing group.

“I’m looking forward to bringing that marketing discipline back into my work, while applying what I’ve learned from working across the broader Ayala Group,” he said.

A key focus will be bringing marketing, communications and brand experience closer together, with Buccat looking beyond how Healthway communicates its proposition to how patients encounter the brand throughout their healthcare journeys.

Buccat's previous work at AC Health includes “Sampulso”, or One Pulse, an employee-focused campaign developed with the company's HR team for AC Health's 10th anniversary.

The campaign sought to bring together nearly 6,000 employees across AC Health's network, which had grown organically and through acquisitions to reach more than six million Filipinos. The initiative brought together employees across different healthcare businesses, including doctors, pharmacists, nurses and corporate staff, around the shared purpose of "transforming health for every Filipino".

“One of the biggest lessons I’ll carry with me is that a strong brand is ultimately built by the people behind it. You can have a great strategy and great creative, but you need your people to believe in the brand and bring it to life every day,” he said.

At Healthway, developing the marketing team will be an immediate priority. Buccat said he plans to spend his first few months getting to know the team, investing in its development and creating opportunities for members to take on projects beyond their day-to-day responsibilities.

He also wants the marketing function to become more closely connected to the wider business, including its customers, services and growth priorities.

Longer term, Buccat said he is particularly interested in transforming Healthway's digital patient experience. He identified the fragmentation that can occur across healthcare journeys, from discovering a service and booking an appointment through to the patient journey and discharge, as an area where marketing can play a broader role.

“For me, that’s where marketing can have a much bigger role: not just in telling people about Healthway, but in helping make the Healthway experience better, more meaningful, with malasakit.”

From AI-powered marketing and the friction economy to retention-led growth, DMA Philippines 2026 on 29 September in Manila will bring together marketers to tackle the opportunities and challenges shaping the next phase of digital transformation.

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