When doctors party

What is it about seeing doctors party that makes us feel secure? Perhaps seeing them without a care in the world makes us feel right about our own world as well.

The doctors were in full force at the cocktails hosted recently by St. Luke’s Medical Center (SLMC) at EDSA Shangri-La Hotel’s Gardenia Ballroom. The event marked the start of a series of activities to celebrate the world-class hospital’s 100th anniversary this year. It also marked the launching of its commemorative stamp, with no less than chairman Robert Kuan and president and CEO Joe Ledesma present. Officials from the Philippine Postal Corp. represented by Felipe Hidalgo Jr., assistant postmaster general for marketing and business development and chairman of the Stamp Advisory Committee Anton D.M. Claro were there for the ceremonial cancellation of SLMC’s first day covers, the day the stamp was released.

St. Luke’s Medical Center has an interesting history. About a century ago, in January 1903, Bishop Henry Brent of the Episcopal Mission built the Beloved Physician dispensary, a free clinic for outpatient treatment of the poor in Calle Magdalena, Tondo. In 1905, a modest nine-bed ward was opened. This increased to 52 beds in 1910, then to 140 in 1941. In the ’30s, St. Luke’s Hospital was already considered one of the best and well-equipped in the islands.

At the end of war in 1945, then director Dr. Takejiro Kamada (1942-1945), a Japanese gastrointestinal surgeon, was given orders by the retreating Japanese army to destroy the hospital then known as "Nippon Byoin." He refused to do so, staying on until the US Army arrived.

The whole medical staff moved in 1959 from Tondo to its present site along E. Rodriguez Avenue, Quezon City. By then, the new hospital had 190 beds, eight suites, 32 bassinets, a recovery room within the operating room, the first neuro-psychiatric unit, the first cobalt therapy unit in a private hospital and the Physiotherapy Department.

In 1975, Bishop Benito Cabanban, seeing the need for drastic changes in the hospital’s management, disbanded the board of governors and created a new all-volunteer Board of Trustees headed by lawyer William Quasha.

Since then, St. Luke’s has grown into one of the country’s–if not the world’s–best hospitals.

Brain drain in reverse

Through the efforts of Quasha and the other trustees, the hospital became an independent, non-stock, non-profit corporation and was steered from bankruptcy to become a leader in the country’s health industry.

Nothing was spared in the acquisition of the latest medical equipment, the improvement of facilities and the hiring of only the best in all medical fields. What’s significant to note is that SLMC is helping the country by encouraging and bringing in top Filipino medical practitioners in the US and Europe to work here. As Joe Ledesma puts it, it’s a case of brain drain in reverse. SLMC has an on-going program of sending its medical staff for the latest medical training all over the world. It will also open a satellite hospital in 2005 at the Global City in Fort Bonifacio.

SLMC and the New York Presbyterian Healthcare Systems signed a formal agreement officially making SLMC an international affiliate of the New York Presbyterian Hospital, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and Weill Cornell Medical College of Cornell University.

Joe Ledesma, who started working for SLMC as executive director for business operations in 1985, credits the hospital’s success to the perseverance, determination, loyalty and hard work of the men and women who have dedicated their lives and efforts to improving the quality of healthcare in the country.

"As we celebrate 100 years of quality healthcare, we look forward to another century of opportunities and higher goals, so that the seeds that have been planted and have grown so well in the past, may bring new life and hope to more people," Ledesma said.

St. Luke’s has indeed come a long way in 100 years. That alone is one good reason for all those contributing to its continued success to celebrate.

Asia World properties president feted

Last year was a milestone for Nelia Gonzalez, 78, president of Asia World Properties Philippine Corp. In September, her biography Nelia T. Gonzalez: Her Life, Her Legacy, was launched. Last December, she received the Gawad Parangal as one of the outstanding citizens of her hometown, Sta. Cruz, Laguna.

Many women her age are deemed retired but Gonzalez still keeps a full schedule in the company that owns the 200-hectare Asia World City along Manila Bay. On top of this, she is engaged in a number of socio-civic endeavors in Manila.

Gonzalez was honored for her contribution to the agribusiness sector by the Immaculate Conception Parish Church. It was an auspicious time to receive the award as it was the eve of the feast day of the Immaculate Conception, patroness of the parish which celebrated its 400th year. The celebration also coincided with the 400th year since Sta. Cruz was founded. It is now a bustling town center that has retained its rustic charm distinct from neighboring Los Baños or Calamba.

Gonzalez was joined by other outstanding sons and daughters of Sta. Cruz who are based in Metro Manila but have found time to serve the needs of their hometown. The other awardees are Elsa Regala, religion; Lilia Bautista, public administration; Leonor de Leon, business; Judy Chua, humanitarian services; lawyer Mario Ongkiko, law; Zarita Yap, journalism; Efigenia Angeles, education; and Socorro Ramos, business.

Outside of Gonzalez’s work and agribusiness consultancies, her socio-civic activities include sending street children to school; raising funds for scholars and seminarians; and getting involved with UP’s Pahinungod Foundation, a volunteer service arm for public elementary and high school students nationwide. She is just as busy with the university’s Center for Women’s Studies.

Each year, during the birth anniversary of her son, a professional singer who died at the age of 24, she sends medical missions to the various barangays of Sta. Cruz.

Nelia T. Gonzalez: Her Life, Her Legacy is the first to be featured in the Women in Development Series, a new publication of the SEAMEO Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) that focuses on women who have made their mark in development work.

SEARCA officials said they chose Gonzalez’s story to inaugurate their series of publications because it is a "stirring account of how women can successfully draw on their potentials to overcome odds and reach enviable positions and pull off notable feats as a first step towards empowerment. Her story can encourage and inspire other women."

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