Guide to PH best healthcare centers out
Need a map showing some of the top-notch healthcare facilities available in the cities of Makati and Taguig? Thanks to healthcare and tourism groups and with the support of Makati officials, there is now a guide to several of the country’s best hospitals, clinics, spas, wellness and other healthcare centers.
Some 10,000 copies of the map—produced by healthcare management group HealthCORE—will be distributed free in all tourism establishments in Makati, the Ninoy Aquino International Airport and in Philippine tourism and trade offices worldwide in a bid to boost medical tourism.
“With this, we primarily aim to reach out to the 10 million Filipino immigrants—already citizens of other countries—scattered worldwide, who prefer to be treated in healthcare facilities here in the country,” HealthCORE Executive Director Joyce Alumno said at a press conference on Monday.
She noted that the Philippines receives an estimated 100,000 medical and wellness tourists yearly, mostly from Micronesian islands such as Guam, Palau and Saipan, along with Filipino immigrants from the United States and United Kingdom.
“Filipino immigrants, especially in the US, will prefer to be treated here rather than in places like Mexico and Costa Rica, because [aside from] being cheaper despite the 12-hour flight, they will have relatives to take care of them here,” Alumno said.
The map lists the addresses and contact information for more than 50 hospitals, dermatology centers, diagnostic centers, eye specialists, dentists, medical clinics and wellness centers around Makati and Bonifacio Global City in Taguig.
It also contains a directory of selected embassies, hotels, spas, airline, ticketing and travel agencies, and restaurants in the two areas.
Alumno said her group had to sieve and filter the healthcare facilities they listed on the map as they took into consideration international standards set by the International Society for Quality in Health Care and the National Accreditation Board for Hospital and Healthcare Providers International.
“We did ocular inspections on the candidate facilities and evaluated whether these facilities are at par [with] these standards. Of all the establishments we surveyed, only 20% made it through our evaluations,” she added.
She expected that the map, together with other promotional activities, would generate a 10% increase in the number of medical tourists who go to Makati, currently estimated at about 10,000 visitors per year.
