Written by Miguel Camus / Researcher    

19 March 2009

St. Luke’s Medical Center is optimistic it will be able to increase its share of medical tourists this year amid the worst economic crisis in nearly eight decades, said its top official.

Jose Ledesma, St. Luke’s president and CEO, added that despite the crisis, the hospital will continue to spend on hospital improvements, particularly on new equipment, renovations and additional staff training.

“The government is really trying to push for medical tourism , and we’re working with them in terms of attracting more patients here, whether this program will translate to more numbers because of the recession of the [world] economy—nobody knows—but we’re hopeful that will happen,” he told reporters at the sidelines of a briefing.

Asia has been identified as a lucrative area in the medical-tourism industry. In 2007, the region generated revenues worth $3.4 billion, according to a report from the Asian Medical Tourism Analysis (2008-2012).

Ledesma said 5 percent of their total patients are foreign-based. Top countries that visit the Philippines for treatments are mostly from the South Pacific, like Thailand and Guam, as well as from the US, particularly Filipino-Americans.

St. Luke’s Quezon City treats over 2 million patients yearly, according to hospital officials.

Meanwhile, the hospital has allotted some P500 million to P1 billion in new technology investments, hospital renovations and customer-service training this year, according to Ledesma.

On Thursday, St. Luke’s announced the purchase of two computed tomography systems from Netherlands-based Royal Philips Electronics, a health, lighting and electronics company.

The Philips Brilliance iCT system 256-slice-scanner—the first in the country—is said to improve image quality and reduce radiation dosage.

“We are increasing our efforts to become a leading health and well-being brand. Working wth St. Luke’s is a good demonstration of accelerating these efforts in the Philippines,” said Gerard Kleisterlee, president and CEO, Royal Philips Electronics.

According to St. Luke’s, the scanner presents opportunities for cardiology, oncology, pediatrics, pulmonary medicine and in neurology. The scanner will also save on time, with a head-to-toe scan only lasting 10 seconds.

“We are already proud to say that in the Philippines, there is one hospital that is better equipped than 95 percent of all hospitals in the United States, and that is St. Luke’s,” said Ledesma.

Ledesma said one scanner will remain at the hospital in Quezon City; and the second, at their new P9-billion hospital in Fort Bonifacio scheduled to open in October this year. The St. Luke’s hospital in Fort Bonifacio will add another 600 beds and will increase the capacity of the two hospitals to over 1,200 beds.

“Both hospitals will be equally state-of-the-art in terms of technology and expertise,” said Ledesma.