More improvements are coming to San Juan Medical Center.

The City Government of San Juan has already secured an initial ₱554 million worth of funding for new medical equipment, including our very first MRI and a new CT scan machine, the renovation of the emergency room to Level 3 standards and other hospital facilities, electrical service rehabilitation, hospital building facelift and three new ambulances.

Also underway are an 11-station hemodialysis center, a blood bank, an ambulatory surgical clinic, the expansion of the surgical wing with burn unit and surgical icu, and a tertiary laboratory with histopathology capability.

These are not just promises. These are the improvements that already have funding and are now undergoing the procurement process.

I say this because certain recent reports have made it appear that the San Juan Medical Center has deteriorated under our administration.

These are simply false.

When I became mayor in 2019, SJMC was in a deeply neglected state. For 18 years, it remained just a Level 1 hospital with very limited medical services and procedures available.

During that period, PhilHealth accreditation had been revoked. Zero Balance Billing was not being implemented. Charity patients still had to pay hospital bills. Bed capacity was only 90. Essential medical equipment was either missing or not working.

Patients and their families even had to bring their own electric fans and pay ₱50 just to plug them in because basic cooling facilities were not available. Drinking water was not provided to patients, and they had to buy water for ₱5 per glass at the nurses’ station. Imagine, a public hospital charging patients just so they could plug in an electric fan and drink water to stay hydrated while seeking medical treatment and care?

Just for comparison, during the past two administrations in San Juan City, the hospital budget stood at only ₱61,000,000 in 2001 and ₱110,000,000 in 2010. Critical hospital services and facilities were left behind, with patients enduring inadequate conditions and outdated equipment.

That was the hospital that we inherited in 2019.

In fact, within the first few days of our Makabagong San Juan Administration, which started on June 30, 2019, we immediately conducted an ocular inspection of the San Juan Medical Center and personally discovered medical equipment purchased during the previous administration still inside boxes and wooden crates. Many of these were delivered close to the end of their term. What struck me most was that these machines were left unopened, uninstalled and untested and yet were fully paid for. Their warranties were already running even if they were not yet being used. In fact, city government checks amounting to millions were released just a few days before the end of their administration’s term.

What made things worse was the fact that these equipment could not actually be installed due to their unfinished hospital renovation and inadequate physical structures. This building was actually the old city hall which was repurposed as a hospital. Because of this, major restructuring and retrofitting had to be undertaken just to make several areas compliant and capable of supporting the proper installation and operation of these critical medical equipment. Their contractor’s massive delays dragged on for years, leaving vital hospital facilities incomplete and severely disrupting operations.

On top of that, our administration also had to shoulder the completion works, purchase missing components, install a new generator set, power up the retrofitted building with an upgraded 400kw electrical service entrance from the old 200kw because these machines could not even function due to incomplete parts and electrical requirements that were left unresolved.

There was no facility for dialysis patients. Our Makabagong San Juan Administration initiated the construction and establishment of a dialysis center, but it could not be utilized immediately because the supposed sewage treatment plant (STP) previously in place did not have the required electrical power, which is a basic requirement for its operation.

We inherited not only unfinished infrastructure, but also medical equipment that could not properly serve patients with their existing conditions.

Before I won as mayor of San Juan in 2019, based on the feedback I would hear from our constituents, 80 to 90 percent of complaints against the local government then were towards the San Juan Medical Center. That is why, when I started my term on June 30, 2019, I vowed to improve and rehabilitate SJMC. That is why I personally brought in Doctor and General Joseph Acosta, a former Surgeon General of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, to help fix the hospital.

Since then, SJMC has become a DOH Level 2 licensed hospital. This means that San Juan Medical Center could now handle more extensive medical procedures because there were already more medical equipment and facilities and more trained medical personnel as well that would cater to the medical needs of our patients.

PhilHealth accreditation was immediately restored in early 2020, while Zero Balance Billing for San Juaneños was implemented in December 2019. Bed capacity increased from 90 to 150. The hospital workforce grew from 186 personnel in 2019 to 516 today. Many employees who previously served under temporary and non-regular positions were given opportunities for promotion, plantilla appointments, and greater stability in their careers. To date, 117 healthcare workers have been promoted, and 60 employees have been regularized as part of our continuing commitment to improve compensation, strengthen security of tenure, and support the professional growth of our healthcare workforce.

The Emergency Room expanded from eight to 16 beds. Adult ICU beds increased from five to 12. Pediatric ICU beds increased from two to three.

The CT scan became operational in 2024. The mammogram became operational in 2023. SJMC now has a high-end X-ray with fluoroscopic capability and a Heart Station with ECG, treadmill test, and 2D echocardiography facilities.

We also established services that were never present before: the Malasakit Center, a Human Milk Bank, a Rehabilitation Medicine Department, a Cancer Care Center, and a Wellness Hub.

All wards and rooms are now air-conditioned. Patients no longer need to bring electric fans, much less pay ₱50 just to plug one in.

The hospital budget has increased from ₱315.9 million in 2019 during my first term to ₱644.5 million in 2026 to support these upgrades. This proves that our Makabagong San Juan Administration prioritizes the healthcare of every San Juaneño through the infusion of funding for SJMC. We are targeting San Juan Medical Center to be a Level 3 hospital and a nationally recognized Green Medical Center of Excellence providing holistic care by June 30, 2028.

Is SJMC already perfect? Of course not.

I have never claimed that. It remains a work in progress. But it has come a long, long way from the deeply neglected and unacceptable hospital we inherited in 2019. In fact, our constituents actually would call it back then “San Juan Medi-kill Center.”

Malaki na po ang ipinagbago ng San Juan Medical Center mula 2019. Ngunit alam ko na marami pang dapat gawin at iyan po ang ating tatapusin bago matapos ang ating termino sa June 30, 2028.

We welcome feedback. We welcome scrutiny. But criticism should not erase the hard work already done, especially when San Juaneño patients are already seeing and feeling the positive changes.

Accountability matters. Accuracy matters too.

San Juan Medical Center was neglected for years. We are fixing it. The progress is real. And we will definitely finish the job.

Some may prefer to recycle old talking points. We prefer to fix the mess that they left behind.

I am staking my name and reputation on this undertaking because the improvement and rehabilitation of San Juan Medical Center is my priority here in San Juan City.