ANGELES CITY -- What started as a community clinic serving hundreds of patients has grown into a hospital serving thousands of Kapampangans.
St. Catherine of Alexandria Foundation and Medical Center Inc., (SCAFMC) started as a lying-in clinic in 1987.
It was founded by Dr. Corsino Torno between Angeles City and Porac town, hence, naming it the patron saint of Porac town - St. Catherine of Alexandria.
Over the years, the lying-in clinic grew to a community hospital that has treated patients from different villages in the two areas.
It has also earned the secondary hospital status on December 18, 1999.
On November 25, 2019, SCAFMC relocated along Rizal Street Extension in Barangay Cutcut in this city from its long-time site in the Nepo area.
Dr. Arlene Tamtamco, hospital administrator of SCAFMC, said their new building has a 100 bed capacity.
According to Tamtamco, SCAFMC's medical staff have high expertise, and upgraded and modern equipments.
"We offer high quality services at a reasonable cost," she said.
The hospital has an emergency room, operating room, intensive care unit and a dialysis treatment area.
They also offer laboratory tests, X-ray, and CT Scan procedures among others.
Robbie Guevarra, chief nurse at SCAFMC, said their old site in the Nepo area did not have any more room for expansion.
"In this new site, we 20 dialysis machines from six machines in the old site," Guevarra said.
Guevarra added that they follow a 1:12 ratio of nurses to patients to ensure the healthcare of patients.
"We comply to this rule so we can ensure that patients are given the attention they need," Guevarra said.
The hospital is set to high more nurses in the coming years to accommodate more patients.
SCAFMC has also conducted numerous medical missions partnering with local parishes as its way of giving back to the community.