The country’s premier and innovative medical facility, St. Luke’s Medical Center, is on track to open its third branch, St. Luke’s ASEANA, in Pasay City, its top official said recently.

“St. Luke’s ASEANA is going to be the same size as the Bonifacio Global City facility. It’s about a 500-bed capacity. We are winding up the design phase for the ASEANA Hospital. Our target opening has shifted slightly to 2031, but the plans are already in place. It’s a go, and we are committed to that project,” St. Luke’s president and CEO Dr. Dennis Serrano, said in a media roundtable last Friday night at the EDSA Shangri-La, Mandaluyong.

Serrano said they hope to commence construction of the facility by September 2026, which will be erected on reclaimed land near the airport, indicating further planning is required.

He said they will start hiring people by 2028, as these hospital employees will undergo intensive training before the hospital begins operations in 2031.

“We will build on our strengths and the strengths that we have identified in terms of knowing the direction for the hospital, the kind of talent that we need, and the kind of technology we will adopt. It’s a bit of a challenge for ASEANA as we are in the age of artificial intelligence, precision medicine, molecular medicine, and molecular oncology. There’s a lot of explosion of these technologies, and we really need to navigate through all of that,” Dr. Serrano explains.

Charity wing

Serrano also revealed that in the coming months or years, St. Luke’s Medical Center, known for being the hospital for Classes A and B, would be opening a charity wing for Class F, or for those patients who cannot pay at all.

“Despite being the go-to hospital for the Class A and B, we also cater to Class D. We allocate around P400 million every year for Class D. But soon, we will be catering to Class F or those who don’t have the capacity, whatsoever, to pay. It will be totally free. We will be opening that in our Quezon City Hospital, called the ‘Dana Evelyn Ang’, which will be funded not just by St. Luke’s, but donors who feel that they want to give more to Filipino patients who are in dire need,” Serrano disclosed.

Coming of age

Last 2 October, St. Luke’s Medical Center held a milestone celebration, honoring its robotic doctors, groundbreaking achievements, and patients whose lives were transformed through robotic-assisted care.

The program featured the recognition of pioneering and top-performing robotic surgeons, the presentation of trailblazing and groundbreaking procedures, acknowledgment of rising stars from St. Luke’s — Quezon City, and moving patient testimonials that highlighted the human impact of advanced surgical innovation.

Milestones in robotic surgery at St. Luke’s:

● 2010 — First in the Philippines to acquire Da Vinci Si Robotic Surgery System, and First Robotic-Assisted Nissen Fundoplication in the Philippines;

● 2011 — First Robotic-Assisted Thyroidectomy in the Philippines;

● 2013 — First Robotic-Assisted Esophagectomy in the Philippines;

● 2016 — First Robotic-Assisted Tonsillectomy in the Philippines; First Robotic-Assisted Thoracic :Surgery in the Philippines; Reached 500 robotic surgeries, setting a national benchmark;

● 2019 — Crossed the 1,000 robotic surgery mark;

● 2023 — Performed Southeast Asia’s and the Philippines’ First Robotic — First Robotic-Assisted Ureteral Reimplantation in a pediatric patient in the Philippines.

As a pioneer in that field of surgery, St. Luke’s has introduced many of the nation’s first robotic-assisted procedures, setting new benchmarks for surgical innovation and patient care.

“With the said milestone, our institution reaffirms its commitment to advancing healthcare through cutting-edge surgical innovation and medical excellence,” according to Dr. Serrano.