Lawyer Augusto Go (center), UC president, leads University of Cebu Medical Center (UCMed) officials in announcing the soft-opening of the new hospital. With him are Dr. Joselito Almendras (from left), UCMed director; Candice Gotianoy, UCMed president; Dr. Eddie Lee, chief of clinics. (CDN PHOTO/LITO TECSON)
Vanessa Claire J. Lucero
Correspondent
“WELCOME to our hotel,” University of Cebu (UC) president Augusto W. Go jokingly said as he opened the press conference on the soft opening of the UC Medical Center.
The new P2-billion hospital, located in barangay Subangdaku, Mandaue City, is aesthetically pleasing. It has 300 beds and 50 suites.
“Our goal is to make the patients’ hospital stay more comfortable and a pleasant experience to aid their recovery,” Go said.
Candice Gotianuy, UC chancellor, said the hospital offers world-class equipment and services at affordable costs, Go said.
She said they will continually strive to keep their services and facilities reasonably priced so that quality care can be provided to anybody, regardless of income level.
“Even if you make this affordable, it should be given in the setting that gives you better value for money,” Go added.
Both Gotianuy and Go said the concept of “paying less and getting more” stems from their practices at the different UC campuses.
“We strive to give affordable and quality education to students. We aim to incorporate the same concept of affordability and accessibility in the hospital, while still maintaining the quality of its services,” Go said.
He added that they plan to socialize the charges, especially for laboratory fees and facilities. This means that those who have less will be paying less for the services.
“I´m not saying it´s going to be cheap. It is just going to be less than other hospitals and we’ll give you more for the price,” he said.
FACILITIES
The hospital offers fully-integrated three-dimensional (3D) Endoalpha Minimally Invasive Surgery (MIS) operating rooms, 3D mammography with tomosynthesis, 3D Laparoscopic Surgery room, a flow cytometer and an advanced digestive and pulmonary endoscopy suite, among others.
Go said mammogram or breast imaging at UCMed is one of the most advanced in Southeast Asia, with lower levels of radiation exposure, improved diagnosis of cancer and reduced false positive reading. Yet, it is cheaper compared to those in other hospitals in Cebu, he added.
He said they did research on several hospitals in Hong Kong, Singapore, Nepal, Thailand and US to improve UCMed’s facilities and services.
Among these innovations is the installation of a separate elevator spanning the emergency room (ER), OR and maternity floors to ensure the privacy of the patients, prevent possible spread of contamination, and allow nurses a quicker way to move between these floors.
Another is the use of hand-activated sensors to automatically open doors in surgery rooms. The hospital also introduced a system that allows doctors to see their patients’ laboratory results on their phones, even when they are outside the hospital.
Go added that in reviewing the requests for equipment and facilities for the hospital, he wanted to make sure that patients were afforded the best care and hospital staff given a well-equipped and staff-friendly hospital environment to work in.
“There is no need to go outside the country for treatment if quality treatment can be found here,” he said.
Dr. Joselito Almendras, medical director, said more physicians might no longer need to seek better opportunities overseas if Philippine hospitals offer world-class equipment and facilities. “Let them come back – all of the physicians who are outside can come back. Let them treat our own people. We can be the best in the field of medicine,” Go said.
Dr. Eduardo Lee, chief of clinics, added that they intend to empower patients and allow them to decide which is the best treatment for them based on informed judgment.
While it is the duty of the doctors and nurses to give patients information and explain treatments and processes, Lee said patients will be encouraged to research for themselves the nature of their illness and talk to their caregivers about possible treatments that can be done.
Gotianuy said UCMed lives by three words: quality, affordability and efficiency. Patients should be afforded quality care with affordable services and facilities, in a manner that is efficient and timely.
UCMed is affiliated with St. Vincent General Hospital, University of Cebu and University of Cebu School of Medicine.
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