St. Luke’s sets P24-B expansion program

St. Luke’s Medical Center (SLMC) is investing as much as P24 billion to expand its operations amid expectations of a boom in medical tourism as it received government recognition as a leading medical tourism facility.

SLMC president and chief executive officer Dennis Serrano said on Monday night that they were spending P5 billion to P6 billion to renovate and modernize their hospital in Quezon City.

“It will be open by 2027 [or] 2028,” Serrano told reporters during a press conference with the Department of Tourism (DOT).Furthermore, the SLMC executive said they would invest around P18 billion to build a 450-bed new hospital at the 107-hectare mixed-use central business district Aseana City in Parañaque, with a groundbreaking event eyed by fourth quarter this year.

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This will become the SLMC’s third facility, which is expected to open by 2029. It is around the same size as their two other hospitals in Quezon City and BGC.

“We feel that there is a lot of growth potential in our health-care market,” he said.

Serrano added that they needed to step up their health-care services after being accredited by the DOT as the “lead facility” in the country for medical tourism.

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To date, foreigners constitute 7 percent to 10 percent of SLMC’s total patients. They mostly come for acute care, including heart and back surgeries, as well as wellness services, such as checkups.

“Many of them come from the Pacific Islands,” he said, citing SLMC’s agreements with Guam, Micronesia, Marshall Islands, Papua New Guinea, Saipan and Solomon Islands.

He expects to soon sign a similar deal with Bhutan.

Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco said the medical tourism industry could reach $207 billion in value by 2030, highlighting its massive potential as a source of revenue for the Philippines. INQ