The Medical City co-founder and chairman Dr. Augusto Sarmiento, or Tico as he was fondly called, passed away on Sept. 12, his family announced. He was 96.
“With deep sorrow, we regret to announce that our beloved father, friend, and colleague peacefully joined our creator,” his family said. “Subsequent masses followed by the novena prayer will be held daily at 6 p.m. until Sept. 21, 2020.”
A world-recognized authority in surgical oncology, Sarmiento specialized in head and neck injury.
He earned the Most Outstanding Oncology distinction from the Philippine Society of Oncology, and the Legend of the Knife of the Philippine College of Surgeons in 2012.
Sarmiento obtained his medical degree from University of the Philippines College of Medicine. After passing the board examinations in Aug. 1948, he worked as a junior parasitologist at the Department of Health under Dr. Trinidad Pesigan.
He then became a resident at the UP-PGH, Department of Obstetrics. He started private practice in general and cancer surgery at the ABM Sison Medical Group Clinic in Ermita, Manila for outpatient consultations and at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital for his surgical and inpatient practices in Nov. 1958.
Affiliated with different medical groups, Sarmiento was a diplomate and fellow of the Philippine College of Surgeons, president of the Philippine College of Surgeons in 1975, a fellow of the American College of Surgeons, and a diplomate of the Philippine College of Pharmaceutical Medicine.
In recent years, he was actively involved in both professional and public life, paying attention to the education of young doctors in the Philippines.
He was also the chairman emeritus of Proser Health Services Inc., Medical Arts Tower, Inc., PSI Healthcare Development Services Corp., Guam Healthcare Development, Inc., The Medical City Clark, Inc., and Philippine Foundation for Health & Development Inc.
Even though Sarmiento has left us physically, he lives on in his works. And through his achievements, he will always be remembered as one of the country’s top surgical oncologists.