Subic Freeport hospital opens heart center

Patients with heart problems in Central Luzon area will now have an option for treatment outside Manila, as the George Dewey Medical Center in this free port formally opened the Subic Heart Center.

According to Ryan Tulio, assistant hospital administrator, the Heart Center is the first of its kind in the Zambales-Bataan area and was built with patients from the locality and from nearby provinces in mind.

“We have the first heart center facility in this area complete with the necessary equipment to treat heart ailments,” Tulio said.

He said the Subic Heart Center has a Cardiovascular Catherization and Intervention Unit (CathLab), where most treatments for heart ailments are performed.

The CathLab has an adjacent operating room equipped with a heart-lung machine, which is dedicated specially for major heart surgeries.

Tulio said that the first major open heart surgery in the Subic Heart Center was performed last February 22. The patient underwent a six-hour aorto-coronary bypass grafting, which was performed by doctors from the Philippine Heart Center and University of Santo Tomas Hospital.

Dr. Pio Purino, team leader of the said operation, said that the choice of Subic Bay Freeport as the location for the heart center is advantageous to patients undergoing heart surgery.

“We have to reduce stress after open heart surgeries, and with an environment like this, it’s very conducive for the recovery of patients,” he said.

He noted that doctors usually suggest that patients walk around two to three days after surgery, and the location of the center amid a natural environment can help patients to recover well.

Purino, one of the trainers for the Subic Heart Center, said that they aim to train local surgeons specializing in cardio-vascular surgery so that there will be heart surgeons who will be based here.

“This is to ensure that patients do not have to go to Manila for heart surgery. They can have them here,” he explained.

Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) chairman Roberto Garcia said, meanwhile, that the Subic Bay Freeport is also being developed as a retirement destination for the same reason that its natural environment helps induce wellness and healing.

Garcia said the SBMA is supportive of industries that will help attract retirees to the Freeport.

“Having a facility such as the Subic Heart Center will assure our retirees that Subic is a well-rounded environment complete with everything they need to love comfortably,” Garcia said. (FMD/MPD-SBMA)