Ayala cancer hospital keeps 10,000-patient goal
Ayala Healthcare Holdings president and CEO of Paolo Borromeo —Contributed photo
More than a year since opening its doors, the Ayala Group’s Healthway Cancer Care Hospital (HCCH) is keeping its target of caring for 10,000 patients this year despite missing their goal in 2024.
Paolo Borromeo, president and CEO of Ayala Healthcare Holdings Inc., told reporters last week that HCCH, the country’s first cancer specialty hospital, cared for around 3,200 patients last year. This is below their 10,000 target.
“That was a very lofty number, but that’s why we need help to create more awareness and more screening,” Borromeo said during the group’s Working with Cancer pledge announcement.
Under Ayala Corp.’s pledge, it launched several employee support programs related to cancer care, including early screening, financial support and other medical benefits.
READ: PH’s 1st dedicated cancer hospital rises in Taguig City
The company has no plans yet of building another cancer care hospital outside the P3-billion HCCH within Arca South in Taguig City, although this can be expanded as only 25 percent of its facilities are operational.
Jaime Ysmael, president and CEO of Healthway Medical Network, said they would likewise leverage their hospital network to get more patients.
Healthway currently has 16 multispecialty clinics and six hospitals in its portfolio.
Ysmael said that they would employ the “hub-and-spoke” approach, wherein its clinics and hospitals can refer to HCCH for more specialized cancer treatment.
HCCH, which was opened in February 2024, currently has a 30-bed capacity, although this can be expanded to 106.
“We can immediately activate the additional beds,” Ysmael said. “We’re already studying that as we speak because the number of patients has been increasing.”
Around 300 doctors have already signed up for the hospital’s network of doctors, according to Ysmael.
“The promise of operating in a fully dedicated cancer hospital is quite attractive to them,” he said.
HCCH likewise promises some of the cheapest treatments in the country, with their rates lower by around five to 10 percent than that of other healthcare facilities in the country, Ysmael said earlier.
