LOCAL DOCS BEHIND MED FACILITY ‘State-of-the-art' hospital in Bohol

A P500-million state-of-the-art hospital will soon rise in the outskirts of the city, a much-awaited health facility that will forever change the medical landscape in Bohol. With two of the founding doctors coming from the famed Ramiro clan, the soon-to-rise hospital, to be known as “Allied Care Experts Medical Center (ACEMC-Bohol),” will put an end to Boholonos' woes of seeking medical treatment in faraway Manila or in Cebu, as the hospital will provide world-class, top-of-the-line facilities and services. Today's ground-breaking ceremony at Mansasa District, this city, will see the unveiling of the hospital's building perspective, and is considered a culmination of a two-year hard work of the founding Boholano doctors, who have pooled their resources and have moved mountains to reach this milestone.

After today's groundbreaking program, with Gov. Edgar M. Chatto, First District Rep. Rene Relampagos and City Mayor John Geesnell “Baba” Yap as guests, the construction of the hospital will be completed in 24 months. The 200-bed hospital, which will also cater the growing retirement and medical tourism market, is expected to be “responsive and compassionate state of the art of higher level medical referral facility to service the existing community and the local population of the towns in the province of Bohol, said Dr. Amado Manuel C. Enriquez Jr., chairman of ACEMC-Bohol, during a press conference held yesterday at Sun Avenue Tourist Inn and Café, this city. Enriquez said the hospital, being an ISO-certified in terms of quality, safety and environment, will match the quality of care being provided by the best hospitals in Manila and Cebu. “It will be staffed with medical specialists who are proudly caring Boholanos,” he said, adding that doctors and staff are the most important component of a hospital, while equipment is only a secondary consideration.

However, Enriquez has assured that ACEMC-Bohol's facility and equipment will be unprecedented in Bohol, which will satisfy clientele from all sectors of society, including foreign patients, expats, and Filipino retirees who have expressed hesitation of settling down in Bohol due to a lack of world-class medical facility. “ACEMC-Bohol is a complete innovation in the medical profession in Bohol,” said Dr. Ronald L. Ramiro, president of ACEMC-Bohol, and whose wife, Dr. Jane Regner Ramiro, is ACEMC-Bohol's administrator. ACEMC-Bohol, which promises an International standards of care (ISO) and a synergy between advanced technology and dedicated professionals, will offer services such as primary and specialty medical care; industrial and occupational health services; pharmacy; rehabilitation medicine (adult and pediatric); pathology; emergency facilities; dialysis center; general medical, surgical, OB-GYN and pediatric care units; intensive care units (adult, pediatric and neonatal); coronary care units; and operating rooms and delivery rooms.

The hospital's medical specialties will include allergology and immunology; anesthesiology; cardiology (adult and pediatric); dental medicine; dermatology; emergency medicine; endocrinology and diabetology; family medicine; gastroenterology; hematology; hospital and palliative care; Infectious disease medicine; internal medicine; nephrology; neurology; obstetrics and gynecology; occupational medicine; oncology; ophthalmology; otorhinolaryngology (ENT-HNS); pathology; pediatrics; physical medicine and rehabilitation; psychiatry; pulmonology; and surgery. The hospital, with its “quality of healthcare, service and corporate governance measured against international standards (ISO),” will also provide medical services such as ambulance and medical transport services; heart station (ECG, treadmill stress testing, spirometry, vascular studies, holter monitor, 2-D echocardiogram); endoscopic services; hemodialysis; laboratory services; automated chemistry and hematology analyzers; microbiology services; pharmacy services; radiology services; routine and special X-ray procedures; fluoroscopy; CT scan; ultrasound; and MRI.

ACEMC can also conduct kidney and heart transplant, an operation which is so far only available in Manila and in Cebu. On top of these services and expertise, ACEMC, as a part of Allied Care Experts Group of Hospitals, can offer air ambulance or airlift service, through its sister hospital in Subic, Baypointe. Baypointe is the only hospital in Southeast Asia, outside of Singapore, that is accredited by the US Military Sealift Command (registered with US DOD and NATO). During a meeting with the press yesterday, Dr. Enriquez revealed that ACEMC is a product of two-year prodding, negotiation, and encouragement by doctors from Bohol, most of whom are holding offices at Ramiro Hospital, who have relentlessly convinced Allied Care Experts Group of Hospitals to build a first-class health facility in Bohol. Since 2001, Allied Care Experts Group of Hospitals has put up first-rate hospitals in Tagaytay, Sta. Rosa, Southwoods, Las Pinas, Muntinlupa, Subic (Baypointe), Valenzuela, Baliwag, Taytay, Parañaque, Sucat, Pateros, Quezon City, Visayas, Cebu, and Iloilo.

ACEMC-Bohol is the group's latest hospital venture. According to Dr. Enriquez, Bohol has a 1.3 million population, and “we would like to cater to this growth of population.” Asked whether the new world-class hospital in Bohol will strike fear to other hospital providers who may not be able to catch up with the kind of high-end facility and services being offered by ACEMC, Enriquez said the presence of ACEMC should serve as complimentary to other existing hospitals in Bohol. The Manila-based physicians who will bankroll the construction of ACEMC-Bohol are Dr. Amado Manuel C. Enriquez, Jr., Dr. Geanie Cerna-Lopez, Dr. Marietta Samoy, Dr. Oscar Imperial, Dr. Felino Cerna, Dr. John Jerlyn Cruz, Dr. Gloria De Castro, Dr. Felicisimo De Castro, Dr. Robert M. De Leon, Dr. Ma. Rhodora Garcia-De Leon, Dr. Maita Cruz, Dr. Esmeralda Dela Rosa, Archt. Alexander R. Balce, Michael Enward R. Enriquez, Miguel Antonio Enriquez, Dr. Marilyn Roseo-Enriquez, Engr. Generoso Orillaza, and Dr. Marissa Orillaza. The founding Boholano doctors of ACEMC-Bohol are Dr. Ronald L. Ramiro, Dr. Jane Regner Ramiro, Dr. Isagani Jodl G. Delos Santos, Dr. Imelda G. Jumangit, Dr. Amelia P. Valdez, Dr. Maria Corazon Entero – Lim, Dr. Alice R Ladaga, Dr. Ma. Cecilia Angela E. Lopez, Dr. Stella A. Escobia, Dr. Herlando D. Bertulfo Jr., Dr. Ma. Ferminita J. Bertulfo, Dr. Jane Elanor L. Permites, Dr. Isidro D. Permites Jr., Dr. Julia B. Maape, Dr. Ria Teresita P. Maslog, Dr. Marbert John T. Cardino, Dr. Backy D. Bacareza, Dr. Herbert N. Relampagos, Dr. Joyce C. Castillo, Dr. Rafael P. Bacalla Jr., Dr. Stephanie Ramiro, Dr. Valerie Ramiro, Reginald Ramiro, and Braunwald Ramiro.

MIKE ORTEGA LIGALIG