Raul C. Pagdanganan, Cardinal Santos Medical Center President and CEO, urged the healthcare frontliners to engage in “Radical Revolution” to reshape the industry’s future.

Speaking before hundreds of healthcare movers during the annual State of the Hospital Address (SOHA) at the Isla Ballroom of EDSA Shangri-La Hotel, Pagdanganan laid out the “new” Care Model as “doing the right thing consistently, quietly, even without anyone looking.”

He emphasized that the patients remain at the core of the hospital’s thrust just as they have always been. “We are experiencing a transformative time. But there is only one thing that does not change. What we do is still for our patient. We are here to heal and save lives. We are here to make a difference in people’s lives. We are here to revolutionize healthcare through opportunities and innovation,” he said.

He exhorted doctors, nurses, allied healthcare professionals and hospital staff to measure progress and success not only through performance indicators, but also in lived experiences. “Actually. I’ve seen organizations – ours included, sadly – chase efficiency at the expense of empathy. We sometimes optimize processes and forget people,” he uttered.

He explained that the Radical Revolution should lead to the reversion to the practice of common sense that he lamented has become uncommon. He expounded that this includes “the refusal to accept the needless complexity, moral ambiguity and procedural inertia that have quietly become our organization’s default settings.”

Pagdanganan, in the same address, also reported that the hospital cracked a record-breaking feat during the past year. “We achieved unprecedented level of financial foothold—surpassing even its pre-pandemic peaks.”

Cardinal Santos posted a 21% growth in revenue in 2025 compared to 2024. “Both our inpatient and outpatient census increased by double digits despite our bed capacity limitations. And, last year, we generated a ‘bottom line’ that is more than double that of the hospital’s NPAT – Net Profit After Tax – in 2019, even before the pandemic years,” he said

Pagdanganan noted the hospital’s strategic intent of investing in artificial intelligence (AI) to boost its technological and procedural edge especially in radiology and diagnostics and streamline its administrative workflows. He also said that more residency and fellowship programs are in the pipeline to boost the doctors’ practice.

The hospital is also stepping up its partnerships with HMOs, NGOs, and corporate entities to make Cardinal Santos brand of care more accessible and affordable. This will be complemented by unprecedented investments in technology, systems, infrastructure and people.

Pagdanganan revealed that the hospital will be investing more in 2026, “two-thirds of which will be for medical equipment; including robotics and digital imaging facilities.” He also reiterated the “Master Plan” for the hospital which involved the construction of three buildings that will allow the hospital to increase its bed capacity to 500 (from the current of 297), number of doctors’ clinics to 200 (from 130), and parking slots to almost 1,000 (from 600).

The President summed up all the items up the sleeve of the hospital as one big plate guided by its long-term goal of “reaching for the stars and breaking barriers,” amid loud cheers and rousing standing ovation from the audience.