Level 2 Calamba hospital hopes to reach international standards

CALAMBA Medical Center will soon mark its 25th year. Photo by Ma. Esther Salcedo–Posadas, Contributor

CALAMBA, Laguna—Founded by nine doctors from Batangas, Calamba Medical Center (CMC) opened its doors in 1989.

From an initial two floors, the owners immediately expanded their facility to three floors within a year due to the profitable stream. After six years, another building was built.

In 1999, Dr. Jose Juliano took over the reins of the hospital as president. To this day, at the ripe age of 81, he remains at the helm of the facility.

The hospital that now runs three buildings is celebrating its 25th anniversary and is doing well.

According to Dr. Jun Juliano, the hospital’s medical director who assists his father in the day-to-day operations, the facility can no longer handle the volume of patients who come in for treatment.

THIS OPTICAL coherence tomography machine has a price tag of P7 million. The people behind the eye clinic are inspired by Dr. Jose Rizal, who was an eye doctor from Calamba. Photo by Ma. Esther Salcedo–Posadas, Contributor

The ideal capacity is about 300 to 400 consults per day, he says. But now, their daily average stands at 1,000 to 1,500 consults.

This is the reason why the owners are on expansion mode, eyeing a facility that can handle 3,000 consults a day.

At the moment, the hospital is classified as a level 2 tertiary facility.

“We want a level 3 status but we need to go into residency training,” Jun explains.

The new Medical Arts building with 70 clinics will be completed by February 2014. The planned 150-bed hospital is still on the drawing board.

“We’re already changing the hospital from the perceived provincial hospital into an international hospital,” Jun says.

He further mentions that the community around Calamba is changing due to migrants from Manila.

“Calamba City itself is growing … because of the industrial parks, he says. “CMC is the largest industrial provider in Laguna. We handle 50,000 APEs (annual physical exams) a year.”

The hospital is a stone’s throw away from SM Calamba, and Jun thinks that the location has a lot to do with their success.

“We’re in the perfect spot. This is the center of Calamba, and Calamba is the center of Laguna.”

Jun, who is an eye specialist, says the hospital’s eye care equipment is up to date. The hospital is equipped with an optical coherence tomography, a high resolution imaging technology that uses light instead of sound.

He shares a few ideas on how he thinks the burgeoning cost of hospitalization for ordinary patients can be addressed.

“You can control the cost of hospitalization. But you need to control doctor costs to compete internationally. Abroad, it’s already a practice that doctors are salaried. And this will translate to lower costs for patients,” he explains.

“Hospital gross margins are already low at around five to ten percent if you include promissory notes,” Jun says, believing that doctor’s fees can be tweaked further.

“People will never stay poor,” Jun answers when asked why he thinks there is a market for the latest in medical equipment.

He is optimistic about Calamba’s economic prospects and thinks that Region 4A may even outpace the growth rate of the National Capital Region.