Ayala cancer hospital ready to serve 10,000 patients this year
MANILA, Philippines — After opening its doors just last February, Ayala-led Healthway Cancer Care Hospital (HCCH) now aims to have at least 10,000 patients under its care by the end of the year, a significantly high target for a medical institution that promises some of the cheapest cancer treatment services in the country.
HCCH, the country’s first cancer specialty hospital that operates under AC Health’s Healthway brand, said on Thursday it currently has more than 400 patients seeking cancer treatments.
“[The target] is high but attainable … We want to encourage treatment and screening, and those are the most important things,” said Paolo Borromeo, AC Health president and CEO.
READ: Specialized Cancer Care comes to the Philippines with AC Health’s new hospital
According to Borromeo, they plan to reach their 10,000 target by raising awareness through partnerships with various foundations and health maintenance organizations (HMOs).
The P3-billion hospital located within Arca South in Taguig City has so far partnered with health-care companies Siemens Healthineers, Varian, Roche and AstraZeneca, as well as nongovernment organization I Can Serve Foundation, for equipment rentals, medicine procurement and information campaigns.
Borromeo said they were also applying for accreditation with HMOs Maxicare and Intellicare.
The 100-bed facility currently offers services for a wide range of cancer cases, including colorectal, breast, lung, and head and neck cancer.
“With over 188,000 cases diagnosed annually and financial barriers hindering treatment, HCCH strives to offer cost-effective rates for cancer screening, diagnostics and treatment, expanding access to care,” HCCH said in a statement.
Healthway Medical Network president and CEO Jaime Ysmael explained that their rates were lower by around 5 to 10 percent than that of other hospitals in the country. Healthway Medical is AC Health’s hospital and clinic arm.
Ysmael said HCCH offered positron emission tomography and computed tomography (PET-CT) scans, a procedure used to detect cancer through nuclear imaging, for P48,000, while other hospitals priced these between P70,000 and P90,000. Some medicines usually priced at P10,000 per pill cost P2,995 at HCCH, Borromeo added.
Asked how they could make a profit from low prices, Borromeo said they would rather “price low and increase volumes.” —Meg J. Adonis
