DRIVEN by the desire to provide genuine healthcare service to patients, a group of medical practitioners formed a corporation and put up a one-stop outpatient center, equipped with new and state-of-the-art facilities.

Located on the corner of Gen. Maxilom Ave. and Echavez St. in Cebu City, St. Michael’s Multispecialty Diagnostic and Treatment Center is a P25-million investment of the group led by Dr. Josefina Co-Ebao, an obstetrics-gynecologist and ultrasonographer.

Through the center, medical providers diagnose, treat and perform none- to minimally-invasive surgical outpatient
procedures at an affordable cost.

Co-Ebao said that in terms of cost, their services are lesser than hospitals but a “little higher” compared with other diagnostics centers in Cebu.

“We made very minimal increases as we transferred into another area under a new name. And our patients appreciate this amid the ongoing global financial crisis. We go for quality and low-cost service,” she said in a press conference Wednesday at the Casino Español.

Since it opened in the middle of this year, an average of 20 to 50 people avail themselves daily of services at St. Michael’s. These services include consultations, 3D Live, congenital anomaly scanning, color Doppler, transvaginal scan and breast ultrasound, among others.

The center also offers services related to women’s diseases and related problems, like colposcopy with cervical punch biopsy, cryotherapy, PAP smear, ovulation test, HPV-DNA test and treatment for myomas, among others.

The group is also planning to put up a laboratory and offer other services like x-ray, mammogram and minor operating room procedures.

“We are eyeing to be fully operational in the later part of the first quarter next year. Right now, we are going through certain phases of accreditations with government health agencies to ensure that we give quality medical care, especially when we are looking towards becoming a player in medical tourism,” Co-Ebao said.

She previously managed a decade-old clinic, the Co Ebao Medical Clinic, at the Maria Christina building in Fuente Osmeña, Cebu CIty. When her lease expired last April, she decided not to renew it and pursue a different venture that is more suitable and comfortable for the people.

Gathering feedback from her patients, the St. Michael’s Multispecialty Diagnostic and Treatment Center Inc.—a group comprised of Co-Ebao, several of her former students, and staff members—put up the new treatment center that targets the class A, B, and upper C market.

The new 250-square meter location also houses a wide waiting area, food shop, bookstore, a separate area for surgical patients and pharmacy.

While St. Michael’s has new equipment, Co-Ebao stressed that the company wants people to come to the center because
of the doctors and their enthusiasm to serve.

The group plans to open up branches in the cities of Dumaguete and Mandaue to reach out to more people, especially those who live far from hospitals. (NRC)

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(December 5, 2008 issue)
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