I MISSED the blessing and inauguration of the University of Cebu Medical Center (UCMed) so I was delighted when Marylou Labrador-Neri offered to give me a private tour of its facilities three weeks later.
Built on a one-hectare property along Ouano Ave., Subangdaku, Mandaue City, UCMed boasts of many firsts.
In Southeast Asia, it is the first medical facility to have a fully-integrated 3D Endoalpha Minimally Invasive Surgery Operating Room and the first to have 3D Mammography with Tomosynthesis. This 300-bed hospital also has the most advanced Brainlab in the region.
In the Philippines, UCMed has the first fully-integrated and the most advanced Digestive & Pulmonary Endoscopy Suite. It also has more Endoalphas than any other hospital in the country. It likewise holds the distinction of having the most advanced 3D Laparoscopic Surgery Operating Room in the country.
It is the only hospital in the Visayas-Mindanao area with a Flowcytometer, equipment that tests the abnormalities and growth of tumors.
My nearly two-hour tour of UCMed left me dazzled. Its state-of-the-art equipment certainly took my breath away. But beyond dazzled, I was also moved by the obvious thought, wisdom and compassion that went into the details that truly mattered.
The garden with a jogging track on the 6th floor offers an oasis in the middle of one’s medical crisis. The twenty-eight La-Z-Boy recliners with individual entertainment centers make life much more tolerable and comfortable for those who must patronize the Dialysis Room. The family in-patient rooms that feature two adjoining rooms with a connecting door in between is simply perfect for people torn between two patients in the family.
The dedicated elevator from the Emergency Room to the Operating Room and Maternity Floors is such a God-send to patients, all of whom really do not wish to share these private moments in their lives with the public. But UCMed did not stop at just protecting their patients. They took their vigilance one step further by also protecting the public.
The installation of escalators that run from ground to the second level ensure that people who enter the hospital simply to get tests done or to visit doctors’ clinics, can opt not to step into an elevator and share a closed and confined space with others. This is an especially thoughtful addition in a hospital.
UCMed’s roster of distinguished doctors which includes the only American Board-certified doctor in Molecular Genetics Pathology in the Visayas & Mindanao, is equally impressive.
There are not enough good things to say about UCMed but I will stop here and give you a chance to discover them for yourself.
From now until July 31, UCMed is offering a 20 percent discount on all laboratory tests, room rates as well as diagnostic tests and services. This is your chance to step into this world-class medical facility and be impressed. And did I mention that the views from the rooms, both of the sea and the mountains are equally breathtaking?
A hospital stay is not on anyone’s wish list but should you find yourself unable to avoid a hospital stay, you will find yourself thanking the brilliant and thoughtful team of people behind the creation of UCMed.