Department of Health Secretary Ted Herbosa leads a surgical procedure at the Jose Reyes Memorial Medical Center in Sta. Cruz, Manila on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024.
In what could be another feat worthy of a Guinness World Records recognition, Department of Health (DOH) Secretary Teodoro Herbosa led a team of surgeons, nurses, and other healthcare professionals in the simultaneous free surgical procedures in at least 112 hospitals all over the country that benefitted more than 500 patients on Friday, Sept. 6.
The Philippine College of Surgeons Command Center in Quezon City manned by PCS President Dr. Juvie Villaflor (2nd from right), Dr. Rouel Mateo Azores, Dr. Jose Rhoel C. De Leon, Dr. Rodney Dofitas, host RJ Ledesma, among others
Herbosa led the surgical procedure at the Jose Reyes Memorial Medical Center (JRMMC) in Sta. Cruz, Manila, as other members of the Philippine College of Surgeons (PCS) led by its President Dr. Vivencio Jose P. Villaflor III, with their respective Operating Room (OR) teams, started the simultaneous surgeries under the 3rd National Surgical Outreach Day at exactly 9 a.m. yesterday, in medical facilities from Aparri to Jolo.
Cagayan Valley Medical Center
“Your effort, your compassion, go beyond hospitals. Your dedication is an inspiration,” Herbosa said minutes before the synchronized operations took place.
“These surgical procedures entail a lot of cost but because of the dedication of our doctors, everything is for free,” Villaflor said, even as he urged non-government organizations to make life-changing and life-saving surgeries their corporate social responsibility (CSR).
Villaflor said it is the aim of the PCS and its affiliates is to address the unmet surgeries in the underserved regions and ideally reach as much patients in the more than 7,000 islands of the country.
Dr. Ramon Inso, former PCS president, called the surgical outreach a “monumental event” of “surgical bayanihan.” “We have just provided life-changing surgeries to indigent patients who really needed interventions.”
The PCS experts performed medium to major surgeries including hernia to hemorrhoids procedures, thyroidectomy, modified radical mastectomy, colostomy closure, trans oral endoscopic thyroidectomy, posterior sagital anorectoplasty for imperforate anus, cholecystectomy, laparoscopic cholecystectomy, low anterior resection, and Whipple procedure, among many others.
The 3rd National Surgical Outreach kicked off the 88th year of the founding of the PCS. Other activities lined up for the Foundation Week are the blood-letting activity called “Dugo Ko, Buhay Mo” with the Philippine Red Cross on Sept. 11, the 80th Annual Clinical Congress by the PCS and the PCS Foundation Inc. on Nov. 30 to Dec. 4 at EDSA Shangri-La, a Thanksgiving celebration and blessing of the PCS Information and Communication Office in Quezon City with Archbishop Soc Villegas and Fr. Arnel A. Calata Jr. on Sept. 8, a shooting competition and gun safety seminar, the PCS and the Association of Women Surgeons of the Philippines’ fashion show on Nov. 17 at the Manila Hotel, and the launch of “Sangre,” the coffee table book of the PCS and its sub-committees and organizations published by the Manila Bulletin.
Rizal Medical Center
Region 2 Trauma Medical Center
Southern Philippines Medical Center
St. Luke's Medical Center BGC
Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center
UST Hospital
The Medical City
San Juan De Dios Hospital
The following medical facilities joined the “surgical bayanihan’: Perpetual Succor Hospital, Iloilo Doctors Hospital, Visayas Medical Hospital, Chong Hua Hospital, Cagayan Valley Medical Center, The Medical City, Quezon City General Hospital, Bulacan Medical Center, Western Visayas Medical Center, Eastern Visayas Medical Center, Rizal Medical Center, Ospital ng Makati, Ospital ng Maynila, Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, UP-PGH, Tarlac Provincial Hospital, Asian Hospital and Medical Center, Dagupan Doctors Villaflor Memorial Hospital, Manila Medical Center, St. Luke’s Medical Center, University of Cebu Medical Center, Adventist Medical Center, Amai Pakpak Medical Center, Amang Rodriguez Memorial Medical Center, Baguio General Hospital, Bataan General Hospital, Batangas Medical Center, Cardinal Santos Medical Center, Cebu South Medical Center, Tondo Medical Center, Quirino Memorial Medical Center, San Juan De Dios Hospital, San Pedro Hospital, Quezon Medical Center, Pasig City General Hospital, Veterans Memorial Medical Center, UPHMC-Las Pinas, Oriental Mindoro Provincial Hospital, Ospital ng Muntinlupa, Northern Mindanao Medical Center, Region 1 Medical Center, Brokenshire Medical Center, MCU Hospital, Benguet General Hospital, Bicol medical Center, Cagayan Valley Medical Center, Cotabato Regional and Medical Center, Davao Doctors Hospital, De La Salle University Medical Center, East Avenue Medical Center, Fatima University Medical Center, FEU NRMF, GCGMMC Bohol, General Santos Doctors Hospital, James L. Gordon Memorial Hospital, Manila Doctors Hospital, Mariano Marcos Memorial Hospital, Sorsogon Provincial Hospital, Mary Mediatrix Medical, St. Elizabeth Hospital, UERMMC, UST Hospital, Jose Reyes Memorial Medical Center, Philippine Children’s Medical Center, Mary Johnston Hospital, Makati Medical Center, and the National Children’s Hospital, among others.