CAVITE CITY—The SM Foundation Inc. has opened the newly-renovated out-patient department of the Cavite Naval Hospital, its 135th health and wellness center it refurbished to date and the 24th military health facility it renovated across the country.
The facility will cater to the healthcare needs of both the sailors and naval and civilian personnel and their dependents.
As Connie Angeles, SMFI Executive Director for health and wellness, said: “This is in keeping with our commitment to support our uniformed personnel for risking their lives and limbs to ensure our protection and the safety of our country.”
The project is the first partnership between SMFI and the Makati Medical Center Foundation Inc., headed by Marge Macasaet Barro and Ideaspace headed by Butch Meily, both subsidiaries of the MVP Group of Companies.
MMC and Ideaspace are providing software to the naval hospital so patients at the facility will no longer undergo time-consuming routine tests before being given the appropriate treatment.
The software would already contain their medical histories, Meily said.
The launch was keynoted by Rear Admiral Robert Empedrad, who thanked SMFI for the donation.
“This is just the beginning of SMFI’s support to the Navy,” he said.
Angeles said SM Foundation will take care of maintaining the facility, although the medical personnel and services will be provided by the PN. She asked the Navy “to please do your share in taking care of the OPD facility.”
The OPD, located at the back of the 94-bed hospital accredited by the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. and licensed by the Department of Health, caters to about 100 patients a day or 3,000 patients a month.
The renovated facility has clinics for prenatal care, family planning menopause, well-baby, bone and joint, ophthalmology and ENT, diabetes, osteoporosis, physical therapy and rehabilitation medicine, the DOTs anti-TB program of DoH, and psychiatric evaluation and management.
Medical specialties are general surgery, anesthesiology, OB Gynecology, ENT and otolaryngology, ophthalmology, orthopedics surgery and bone and joint medicine, pediatrics, general and internal medicine, rehab medicine and physiotherapy, psychiatry, and visiting consultations of urology and dermatology.
Ancillary and diagnostic services include laboratory (CBC hematology, urinalysis), blood chemistries, PAP smear; X-ray-Radiology and ultrasound, ECG and stress test, and DoH-accredited drug testing.
Its other services are emergency medical and surgical care for injured patients; dispatch medical and surgical teams as needed; and preventive medical activities.
It also provides medical personnel to Philippine Navy Alert and Readiness teams and combat troops in operation areas and deploys disaster teams in various emergency situations.
The naval station hospital, the 8th Station Hospital of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, was created on Sept. 20, 1954 with an initial 25-bed capacity that grew to 100 beds in 1986.
It is envisioned to provide comprehensive quality health care to ensure and conserve the fighting strength of the Navy and the AFP in general.
In 1987, the Naval Station was strengthened with the deactivation of the Sangley Point Medical Dispensary and the transfer to the Naval Station Hospital in Fort San Felipe, Cavite City, and was later re-named to Cavite Naval Hospital. In 2016, it was placed under the supervision of the Directorate for Health Services Headquarters Naval Installation Command.
Before the turnover, a final inspection was done by the foundation led by Engr. Chito Macapagal, corporate affairs head and SMFI trustee.
Instructions were given to extend the roofing and awning and provide benches outside the OPD for the convenience of the patients waiting for their turns to be attended to, since not all of them could be accommodated inside at one time.
The one-story OPD facility has an indoor playhouse for children waiting to be checked, lots of comfort rooms, and a ramp with hand railings for patients on wheelchairs or those using canes.
All these little details, Macapagal said, are meant to provide ease and comfort for the outpatients being served.
