Get to know the largest hospital in all of the Philippines
By MARIE BUSTOS
After getting the lion’s share of Covid-19 payments at P326 million, the spotlight has been trained on this hospital—which many may not have heard about. So what and where, exactly, is SPMC?
- It’s not a hospital of Davao City. It’s a hospital in Davao City. It’s just located in the city, but it’s not a city hospital. It’s a regional hospital. The Davao Regional Medical Center in Tagum City and the SPMC are the only tertiary hospitals in the region. SPMC is the only public hospital in the city.
- As a public hospital, it’s not too shabby! Hospital facilities include a seven-storey Medical Arts building, a five-story Central ICU, a five-storey Children Institute, a five-storey Kidney Transplant Institute, a four-storey Trauma Complex, a four-storey Institute for Women's Health and Newborn, a four-storey Orthopedic and Rehab Institute, a four-storey OPD building, a three-storey Mindanao Heart Center, a three-storey Cancer Institute with another two-storey extension, a two-storey Isolation Facility, and a two-storey Institute for Pyschiatry and Behavioral Medicine, and a three-storey Main building. Whew.
- Only SPMC was initially allowed to accept Covid-19 patients. Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte ordered the private hospitals in Davao City not to accept patients with Covid-19 to limit contamination. It has been the main receiving center for confirmed patients in the entire Mindanao. This means no matter how rich or poor you were, even if you wanted to stay at an expensive private hospital, you’re going to end up in SPMC. It also had its own lab that could confirm Covid independently.
- It officially became the largest hospital in the Philippines after it was authorized to expand its capacity to 1,500 beds when the Republic Act No 11326 was approved on April 17, 2019, surpassing that of the Philippine General Hospital’s 1,334 beds.
- It’s famous for its paediatric cancer care. SPMC’s Dr. Mae Dolendo is the medical lead of the St. Jude Global and the World Child Cancer funded program in the country. In 2009, SPMC had 10 beds dedicated for children with cancer. By 2010, it has become 20. It now has 43 beds for children with cancer, many of whom come from the Visayas and Mindanao. SPMC has twinning support from NUH in Singapore and St Jude Children’s Research Hospital in the US, to enable it to develop the capacity of the local team in treating children with cancer. SPMC also has House of Hope, which has temporary lodging for children with cancer and their families—as many of them are not from Davao City. House of Hope has 15 beds in the Main Building and 30 beds in the Annex Building for those with carers.
- It’s more than 100 years old! In 1917, the humble hospital was started for sacadas. In 1920, it became a concrete hospital with 50 beds, led by Dr Simeon Macasaet Sr. In Nov, 1921, it became a “modern” hospital in Mindanao complete with dispensary and dormitory for nurses and doctors. In 2008, the hospital’s name was changed to Southern Philippines Medical Center to reflect its ongoing expansion and growing ability to cater to the needs of patients not only in Davao City, but throughout Mindanao.
