This is the statement made by Dr. Aurelia L. Villaraza, medical director of the SHMC situated along the MacArthur Highway in Barangay Sto. Domingo here.
“We have increasing number of patients requiring hemodialysis. Similarly, our physical therapy, the rehab, used to have five treatment machines and now we have increased it to 10 because again we have increased in demand,” said Villaraza.
The Tan family led by its patriarch Tan Song Bok, doctors, nurses and hospital staff were present during the inauguration and blessing officiated by Fr. Marvin Sinlao.
“For the past years, we were refusing patients because we cannot anymore accommodate them. In the same light, in our Cancer Institute we used to have one linear accelerator and we have to buy a second machine because we were averaging like 130 patients. That is how bad it is, that is the number of cancer patients we have,” Villaraza said. “Statistics show that sadly 90 percent of patients are Kapampangan.”
“We have a wellness center because there are patients on special diets. We have therapeutic nutritionists to guide our patients,” she added. “What Sacred Heart wants to do or is committed to do is to provide holistic care…not only medical, not only surgical but the totality and quality,” she stressed.
“With the hospital extension, we added an ENT Center and separated the Orthopedic Center. I am happy to see that we are already in the part 2 of the hospital expansion and we still have part 3,” she revealed. True to its mission, the SHMC provides state-ofthe-art facilities that aid its duly-accredited medical staff in the accurate diagnosis and management of multi-disciplinary disorders and to allow its competent hospital staff to render equal opportunities for all patients to enjoy the quality of care that they deserve, at affordable cost.
Now going into its eight year of operations, SHMC’s phenomenal growth and development motivate it to further improve its facilities, in response to the demands of the community.
The hospital expansion includes the following: nine additional doctors’ clinics, ENT Center and Orthopedic Center, aside from the existing 13 Doctors’ Clinics with a total of 123 specialists holding regular clinic hours; 10 treatment tables, from the former three tables of the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation; 28 hemodialysis machines, from the former nine machines of the Hemodialysis Center; and a bigger Dietary Department and HMO Office.
