New blueprint for ‘smart hospitals’

MANILA, Philippines – For patients navigating hospitals, the experience often means moving from one building to another: lining up for laboratory tests, heading elsewhere for imaging and returning again for treatment.

St. Luke’s Medical Center in Quezon City is trying to change that.

A new 13-story facility—whose structure was recently completed following a topping-off ceremony—is targeted for completion in 2027. It is expected to house nearly 80 percent of the existing services of this premier hospital.

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This building will include 132 patient rooms, expanded outpatient, diagnostic and therapeutic areas, as well as operating rooms and intensive care units, many of which are the hospital’s “high-traffic” services.

For St. Luke’s, the shift is about improving how care is delivered.

“Most of the high-traffic areas will be in this building,” says Dr. Deborah Ignacia Ona, senior vice president and medical director, noting that laboratory, imaging and treatment services will be centralized.

This layout is designed to reduce the need for patients—many of whom are already ill—to move across multiple facilities for tests and procedures, a common friction point in hospital operations.

“It’s made in such a way that we wanted to be a smart building so if you’re a patient, it’s going to be very easy for you to navigate the hospital,” Ona said.

This new building will be physically linked to the existing hospital through internal passageways, with separate flows for inpatients and outpatients to improve privacy and ease movement within the complex.

Space reconfiguration

Despite the expansion, overall bed capacity is not expected to increase significantly. Instead, the hospital is reconfiguring space to provide more rooms, particularly higher-demand private and suite-type accommodations.

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“The ones that are currently in demand… will be more here in the new hospital building,” Ona says, noting that this will help address capacity constraints during peak periods.

This facility will also incorporate more advanced systems, particularly in operating rooms and intensive care units, with plans to introduce centralized monitoring and other “smart hospital” features.

The Quezon City expansion forms part of St. Luke’s broader effort to modernize its facilities.

It is planning a new hospital in Aseana, Parañaque, which is expected to add about 500 beds by 2030.