Philippine President Arroyo hails new hospital St. Luke's Medical Center Global City

Saturday, January 16, 2010


Via Philippine Daily Inquirer  01/16/2010 MANILA, Philippines—President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on Saturday marveled at the state-of-the-art and “hotel-like” facilities of the spanking new St. Luke's Medical Center Global City at The Fort in Taguig City, calling it a “quantum leap in medical care.”

“It looks like a five-star hotel,” she gushed while walking around the presidential suite that features a special bed, daybed sofa, leather recliner, flat TV, a desktop computer, and a jacuzzi in the patient's room.  But more than the amenities, the 250-sq m suite, which has a dining area, kitchen and a guestroom, and costs P50,000 a day, offers a refreshing view of Taguig's skyline.   The new facility has a 14-storey, 600-bed nursing tower with a helipad.


If St. Luke's QC was “better than 95 percent of hospitals in America,” the new facility is “better than 99 percent of the hospitals,” she added to cheers and applause.  With its team of 60 customer care officers, free Internet connection in patient suites and a 24/7 concierge service, among other amenities, the hospital is being managed like a hotel, observed Sinan Yilmaz, Edsa Shangri-la general manager.

Continue reading here http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/metro/view/20100116-247682/Arroyo-hails-new-hospital

Related
http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/238757/st-lukes-opens-facility-global-city
http://www.health-tourism.com/medical-centers/st-luke-s-medical-center/
http://ph.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100112193418AAud4ze
http://www.kabeet.com/flash/detail.php?name_id=1108943








New Hospital about to give Makati Med a Run for Its Money

Tags:   Health, Healthcare Providers, medical tourism philippines manila, St. Luke's Medical Center Global City

History of Medical Tourism in the Philippines

Friday, January 15, 2010

Philippines had an Initial head start on Medical Tourism

Via Business Mirror:  Although the Philippine government only started promoting medical tourism in 2006, Philippine hospitals have been receiving foreign patients for over three decades now. There was a time when some Philippine hospitals were considered the best in the region, with people from as far as the US seeking medical treatment here.

When Imelda Marcos put up the Philippine Heart Center in 1975, it became an important center for cardiac care in the Asia-Pacific region because of its foreign-trained medical personnel, state-of-the-art facilities, and advanced medical care and research. The Heart Center was at the forefront of developing bio-prosthetic valves and prototype medical equipment. It was a trailblazer in coronary angioplasty in the region.

Medical tourism in the Philippines

Although foreign nationals have been coming to the Philippines for medical treatment as early as the 1970s, medical tourism as a government program only took off in 2006 when the Departments of Health, Tourism, Foreign Affairs, and Trade and Industry identified the Health and Wellness Services Program as one of their flagship programs.

The Philippine Medical Tourism Program has four domains: full hospital care and treatment; specialty clinics (e.g., eye, dental, and cosmetic services); wellness and spa centers; and retirement and long-term care for the elderly.

According to the Philippine Institute for Development Studies, cataract surgery costs $950 in Thailand, $1,424 in the Philippines, and $1,014 in Malaysia. Liposuction in the Philippines costs $1,400. Patients in Thailand have to spend $1,365 only for the same procedure.

Total knee replacement surgery is more expensive in the Philippines at $5,639, compared to $5,500 in Thailand and $4,342 in Malaysia. India boasts that its medical rates are 40% to 60% lower than the rates in the US and UK.

Philippine medical professionals are also fluent in English, which reduces the possibility of error and misunderstanding between doctor and foreign patient. Medical professionals in the country, particularly the nurses, are known for their hospitality, skills, and excellent patient care, which makes them in demand in foreign hospitals abroad.  Continue reading here http://www.bworldonline.com/main/content.php?id=4652

Medical Tourism – an option for the rising cost of American Healthcare & Medical Tourism Explore globalization

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Medical Tourism – an option for the rising cost of American Healthcare

From the TravelInsurance blog:  While medical care is the main purpose for traveling to a foreign country, you are more or two weeks rest in a holiday paradise is also attractive.  Continue reading
http://travelinsurancecanada.ohablog.com/medical-tourism-an-option-for-the-rising-cost-of-american-healthcare/

Medical Tourism Explore globalization –
From the TravelInsurance blog:  The transaction costs in Argentina, Cuba, India, Bolivia, Thailand, Colombia, Philippines and South Africa tenth of what could the United States or Western Europe, and sometimes even less.

A heart-valve replacement, the United States would cost $ 200,000 or more in the United States, for example, goes for $ 10,000 in the Philippines and India and the return flight and a short break includes package.Similarly, a metal – free dental bridge worth $ 5500 inUScosts $ 500 in India and in Bolivia, and only $ 200 in the Philippines, a knee replacement in Thailand with six days of physical therapy costs about one fifth of what the United States, and the value of Lasik Eye Surgery of 3,700 dollars in the USA and many other countries for only $ 730   Continue to read his complete article here   http://travelinsurancecanada.ohablog.com/medical-tourism-explore-globalization/