THE University of the Philippines-Philippine General Hospital (UP-PGH) has unveiled its new equipment for high-quality medical care for indigent patients.
In a statement, the UP-PGH announced the inauguration of a combined imaging capability in Positron Emission Tomography (PET) and Computed Tomography (CT), or the PET-CT scan, for “more comprehensive diagnostics.”
In addition, the biggest modern government tertiary hospital in the country also revealed a new centralized intensive care unit (ICU) that can accommodate 32 patients at a time, along with a 128-slice CT scan facility, which is part of the PGH long-term plan.
HEALTH CARE FACILITY UPGRADE University of the Philippines President Angelo Jimenez (left) and Dr. Gerardo Legaspi, UP-PGH director, cut the ribbon at the inauguration of the advanced diagnostic equipment and critical care facilities at the University of the Philippines-Philippine General Hospital on Dec. 17, 2024. The combined imaging capability in Positron Emission Tomography (PET) and Computed Tomography (CT) — better known as PET-CT scan equipment — is for more comprehensive diagnostics to ensure that even indigent Filipinos can have free access to high-quality health care at the country’s largest tertiary hospital. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
UP-PGH Director Dr. Gerardo Legaspi highlighted the four-year wait for the first PET-CT scan facility, saying that the procedure can accommodate up to eight patients a day at present and will be increased to 15 once operations become regular.
“But now that it’s here, we have leveled the field for poor patients, who will be using this machine 80 percent of the time versus 20 percent for paying patients,” he said.
“We need this machine badly because it has become central to the diagnosis of cancer, a major concern of our health care system,” he added.
A PET scan uses small amounts of radioactive material injected into the bloodstream in detecting certain diseases at an early stage, while a CT scan uses X-rays to show cross-sectional images of the internal structure of the body.
“A combined PET-CT scan can provide both functional and structural information in a single session for doctors to get a more comprehensive inside view of what’s happening in the patient’s body,” UP-PGH officials described the new equipment.
UP-PGH officials said they are coordinating with the Department of Health (DOH) on how they can make this available to patients outside of the PGH.
Legaspi said that personnel from the DOH will be trained to operate the new equipment, with doctors under the UP-PGH residency program.
Further, Legaspi said that certain patients that benefited from their medical interventions included a market vendor in Paco, Manila, who had a heart attack and underwent angiography free of charge. Another was a jeepney driver who had robotic surgery.
He also said the new equipment allowed them to conduct medical procedures that are deemed expensive to obtain from private hospitals.
Moreover, the PGH also included interventions for breast cancer patients who can have a tumor removed, after a one-time radiation treatment with the use of intraoperative radiotherapy or IOR, which forgoes the typical 10- to 20-day radiation therapy.
PGH also has a transcranial magnetic stimulation unit that sends electromagnetic waves to the brain for “faster healing” of patients that have mental ailments, such as depression, obsessive compulsive disorder and addiction.
A robotic gait trainer was also recently installed at the hospital in its rehabilitation medicine department that can improve the capability of patients with disabilities to recover their bodily functions.
Legaspi thanked the government for giving attention to the PGH, as their P7.72 billion outlay for 2024 is a large portion of the UP budget and comprises a third of the total amount allocated to the state university, while the rest of the university’s budget went to its academic programs.
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