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SPMC: Mindanao’s poor man’s hospital

By Judy Quiros

August 19, 2020, 9:19 pm

<p>The main building of Southern Philippines Medical Center in Davao City. <em>(Courtesy of SMPC's Facebook page)</em></p>

The main building of Southern Philippines Medical Center in Davao City. (Courtesy of SMPC's Facebook page)

DAVAO CITY—Sitting on a wheelchair by a windowpane at his rented house here while listening news reports from his transistor radio, Simplicio Ontua, 57, couldn’t imagine surviving his ordeal as a chronic kidney failure patient over a year ago.

Simplicio was rushed to the Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC) in March last year due to severe vomiting and pain and diagnosed to have impaired kidneys resulting in complications, including high blood pressure and diabetes.

Simplicio is a farmer back in Surigao del Sur and three of his eight children are staying in Davao City for work.

His wife Edina Ontua, in an interview, said his husband was discharged from the hospital after more than a month of battling with the illness.

Grateful to be alive

Breathing deep, Simplicio said he still found it difficult to recall his medical conditions without getting emotional.

"I just thank God for he let me survived after I almost gave up that time. I am also thankful because the doctors and nurses (at SPMC) took care of me for quite a long time,” Simplicio told the Philippine News Agency in the dialect, in a recent interview.

Edina said Simplicio underwent 10 dialysis sessions and suffered various reactions after every procedure. Living in the hospital for over a month, she said, was very difficult for the family as she and her adult children took turns in watching over the patient.

“We thank God because up to now he (Simplicio) is still alive though irritable, but we have to understand his situation,” Edina said. "SPMC was a big help to our patient. We availed of many benefits."

SPMC is the only public hospital based in Davao City that also caters to poor patients throughout Mindanao.

Unlike other public hospitals, SPMC is equipped with modern facilities such as a seven-storey Medical Arts building, a five-story Central ICU, a five-storey Children Institute, a five-storey Kidney Transplant Institute, a four-storey Trauma Complex, and four-storey Institute for Women’s Health and Newborn.

It also boasts of a four-storey Orthopedic and Rehab Institute, a four-storey OPD building, a three-storey Mindanao Heart Center, a three- storey Cancer Institute  which was expanded to another two-storey building, a two-storey Isolation Facility, and a two-storey Institute for Pyschiatry and Behavioral Medicine.

Its main building is an iconic red brick, three-storey edifice.

According to Edina, their PHP200,000 bill was almost reduced to nothing when PhilHealth benefits were applied, including discount privileges Indigenous Peoples. In addition, the family also managed to avail of the hospital's internal social welfare benefits.

What they only had to shell out, she said, was for their food and other medicines that were not available inside at the hospital's own pharmacy.

P50 hospital bill

Armando Fenequito was 17-years-old when he was diagnosed to have Tuberculosis with a spot in his lungs in 2005.

“I was brought to the ER (emergency room) where the attending doctor started to inject a medicine that cost PHP750 for every vial. My mother that time was financially broke while my policeman-father here in Davao City cared less for me at that time,” Armando said in the dialect.

He said he stayed at SPMC’s ward section for three days and every day, he was injected with the costly vial of medicine.  SPMC that time was still called the Davao Medical Center or DMC.

The Orthopedic and Rehabilitation Institute of the Southern Philippines Medical Center in Davao City. (Courtesy of SMPC's Facebook page)



“We were really nervous because we didn’t have enough money to pay the hospital as we spent a lot on the needed laboratory examinations. I was worried I might not get out of the hospital--my mindset at that time, coming from a poor family,” Armando said.

He and his mother were surprised when their PHP50 bill came out.

Armando attributed the almost non-existent cost to SPMC's Social Service Office at SPMC — the same privilege that the Ontua family had availed of.

“We didn’t expect that our bill was that low. My mother only had PHP80 in her wallet at that time, and we used the remaining PHP30 for our fare when I was discharged from the hospital,” Armando recalled.

SPMC was established in 1917 as the Davao Public Hospital. It was initially a 25-bed capacity hospital.

In 1986, the bed capacity was increased to 600. It officially became the largest hospital in the Philippines after it was authorized to expand its capacity to 1,500 beds when the Republic Act No 11326 was approved on April 17, 2019.

The hospital’s name was changed to Southern Philippines Medical Center to underscore its capability to serve to the needs of patients not only in  Davao Region but throughout Mindanao.

Poor man's hospital

Another patient who is from Agusan del Sur, Bernardo Guingue, Sr. suffered from schistosomiasis.

He opted for treatment at SPMC after learning from other patients that SPMC admits anyone, even those without a centavo in their pocket.

Because of the hospital's considerable distance from his hometown, he said he opted to stay in one of his relatives in Davao City as he underwent several consultations.

Schistosomiasis, also known as snail fever and bilharzia, is a disease caused by parasitic flatworms called schistosomes. The urinary tract or the intestines may be infected. Symptoms include abdominal pain, diarrhea, bloody stool, or blood in the urine.

Bernardo said attending physicians at SPMC prescribed Bernardo several medicines to help cure his ailment. As he had no money, he was granted PHP5,000 worth of medicines through the hospital's Lingap Center.

While he has not yet availed of the surgery recommended by SPMC l, doctors for his illness due to transportation costs, Bernardo credited the medicines provided by the hospital to his health.

"I just maintained the medicines prescribed by the doctor at SPMC. With God’s help, I am still okay. I am thankful I was able to go to SPMC for treatment," Bernardo said, conceding that he should eventually avail of the needed procedure to completely cure his schistosomiasis.

Having grown for more than 100 years since it started in 1917, SPMC continues to serve the masses for their much-needed health needs.

Today, SPMC is the nerve center for Covid-19 patients all over Mindanao.

As of August 17, the hospital said it is treating 30 new Covid-19 patients and has handled a total of 1,193 cases since the pandemic was declared in March. It currently admits 205 Covid-19 patients. (PNA)

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