For them, money is not a factor; quality healthcare under the best doctors and a comfy room are.

Although this is the case for many public health institutions, not all government-owned hospitals are being left out of the game.

The 33-year-old Philippine Heart Center (PHC), for instance, proves that it can compete not only with top private hospitals in the country but also globally with its cutting-edge healthcare equipment and quality patient care.

Since its inception on Feb. 14, 1975, the Center has consistently adhered to its mission of providing utmost care to patients with heart and related ailments. To this day, it continues to save lives and alleviate the suffering of thousands with cardiovascular diseases, a leading cause of death in the Philippines. Likewise, it has served as a beacon of hope to the less fortunate who cannot afford specialized medical care.

Showcase for medical tourism

"Of all the government hospitals in the country, it is only the Heart Center (that) is really earning. It is self-sufficient," reveals Dr. Antonio Pascual, a resident physician at PHC specializing in internal medicine, cardiology, and echocardiography.

In fact, the Center is only one of two government hospitals being showcased in the medical tourism program of the Arroyo administration, Dr. Pascual reports.

The other is the National Kidney and Transplant Institute.

Medical tourism caters to the new type of tourists who travel to seek treatment in countries with affordable but excellent healthcare services.

He also bared that the PHC is currently undergoing extensive renovation, constructing an annex building for its laboratory, upgrading equipment and hospital processes to meet the global standards for accreditation by the Joint Commission International (JCI). The JCI is the largest accreditor of health care organizations in the United States.

At the forefront of technology

The Center further establishes itself at the leading edge of cardiovascular care and management with the recent acquisition of 22.5 million euros worth of advanced medical equipment. The modern equipment is the result of a landmark partnership with the Netherlands through its Official Development Program (ODA) and the Philippines’ Department of Health.

Called the ORET (Ontewikkelings Relevante Export Transacties- Development Related Export Transactions), the project provides government hospitals with medical equipment and related services from Philips Medical Systems. This endeavor aims to enhance the delivery of healthcare services in the country and develop specialty heart-lung-kidney centers in several provinces under the DOH Health Sector Reform Agenda. Also benefiting from the ORET are government hospitals in Davao, Cebu, and Bicol.

The Dutch company Philips’ Medical Systems was instrumental in sealing the agreement with DOH. Its general manager Elpidio U. Soriano notes that this is the first time that the Netherlands has invested in medical equipment in the Philippines. He explains that 37 percent of the total cost of equipment was given as a grant while the remaining 65 percent will be shouldered by the government hospitals.

Sophisticated equipment

Among the advanced equipment provided for the Heart Center are the multislice CT scan, the Forte Jetstream Dual Gamma Camera, a 1.5 Tesla Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) System, and a Bi-Plane Catheterization Laboratory

(CathLab) System. A P1.5 billion ORET Easy Web (E-Web) healthcare system, an online referral and diagnosis program, was also installed to give remote hospitals across the country the chance to have online collaborations and consultations with expert doctors from the Philippine Heart Center.

According to Dr. Pascual, the new equipment like the 3-D Echocardiogram offers high spatial and temporal resolution for evaluation of anatomy and function.

"This enables more comprehensive evaluation of cardiac diseases such as congenital heart disease and valvular heart disease," he stresses.

The MRI and CT Angio offers evaluation of cardiac patients that were previously thought impossible or difficult by other non-invasive means.

Dr. Harold Tan, PHC radiologist, says the 40-slice CT scan has dramatically improved and accelerated the Center’s services.

"The upgrade from a 16-slice to a 40-slice CT scan has allowed us to see a lot more pathology in just one revolution or rotation. The cost of having a CT scan for a coronary angiogram has also been reduced from a whopping P40,000-P60,000 to only P16,000," he points out.

Medical breakthroughs

Many breakthroughs in cardiovascular medicine have been attributed to a competent and brilliant team of medical professionals at the Philippine Heart Center. The most significant of these, according to Dr. Pascual, is the manufacture of the PHC heart valve. In 1977, the PHC started developing bio-prosthetic valves and prototype medical equipment. A total of 77 PHC valves were implanted until February 1986. In 1997, PHC resumed its bio-prosthetic valve program.

Apart from this, Dr. Pascual believes the most significant contribution of the Center to the country’s medical industry is the treatment of and surgical operation of many service or charity patients. More than half of the patients being treated at the hospital are charity patients.

"Moreover, the Center has constantly provided training of healthcare providers cardiologists, pulmonologists, radiologists, cardiovascular surgeons, anesthesiologists, nurses, technicians and therapists who, in their own practice and capacity, contributed to the treatment of more patients not only in the Philippines but overseas as well," he says.

All these, Dr. Pascual reiterates, redound to the Philippine Heart Center’s goal of becoming a center for world-class facilities, a nest of expert healthcare providers, a self-reliant institution, and a model for upholding the highest standards in the healthcare community.