SY N E R GYVol. 07 No.01

A Quarterly Publication of St. Luke’s Medical Center - Resource Development Group

Mission:CompassionMedical missions have always been a cornerstone of this Foundation, and in this issue, we shine the spotlight on their volunteer heroes.

8/F St Luke’s College of Medicine - William H. Quasha Memorial

279 E. Rodriguez Ave., Quezon City

Website: www.stlukesfoundation.org.ph

E-mail: slmcfoundation@gmail.com

www.stlukesmedicalcenter.com.phwww.stlukes.com.ph

For comments and suggestions, please callNiña Mirrela C. Bautista

ReD – Fund Development Officer

Tel. No.: (632) 789-7576

EDITORIAL BOARD

Arturo S. De La Peña, MD

Brian Michael I. Cabral, MD

Benjamin S.A. Campomanes, Jr., MD

Olivia B. Yao

EDITORIAL TEAM

EDITOR IN CHIEF

Kara Ortiga

CREATIVE DIRECTOR

Edric dela Rosa

PHOTOGRAPHERS

RG Medestomas

Kitkat Pajaro

ILLUSTRATOR

Mark Magnaye

EDITORIAL ASSISTANTS

Niña Bautista

Jude Trinidad

THANK YOU FOR YOUR GENEROSITY

You may contact us for your donations:

ST. LUKE’S MEDICAL CENTER - RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT GROUP

5/F, St. Luke’s Medical Center Global City

32nd Street and 5th Avenue

(+632) 789-7700 extension 5076 and 5077

SY N E R GY

March 2018

01

WHY WE PAY IT FORWARD

It’s so invigorating to start a

new year. The turn of the times

symbolizes a clean slate: an

opportunity to refresh ourselves

and start anew as we continue

on our journey to do good work

and to pay it forward. Some may

wonder, how and why do we do it?

Year after year, we at the

Foundation are continuously

rewarded with the gift of smiles

from families who can finally find

peace of mind that they can have

access to healthcare. It warms

our hearts to see them relieved of

the burdens of financial worries,

which allows them more energy

for healing. We do not tire from

this work because we see how

many people in communities in

far flung areas are still in need of

our help. We continue to reach out

to them because no one else will,

and watching them finally have

access to medicine is a gift. We

find purpose in this work because

of the sense volunteerism that

enlivens our doctors, and it is so

inspiring to see such selflessness

in their efforts.

Medical missions have always

been a cornerstone of this

Foundation. They are one of the

reasons that we continue to do

this work. In this issue, we focus

on the unsung heroes of these

missions, highlighting three

projects that were successfully

conducted in different areas,

with the help of partner

organizations. SLMC GC’s

Support Services Group and the

Foundation worked with Project

Liwanag to aid Aeta groups in

Tarlac. The Philippine Nurses

Assocation and the Foundation

team up to help displaced

members of Brgy. Tatalon in

Quezon City. And about 2,000

residents of a resettlement area

were aided in Morong, Rizal, with

volunteers from Sagip Bayan and

the Foundation.

Lastly, recognizing how much

work is done in these medical

missions, it is important to ensure

DR. ARTURO S. DE LA PEÑAPresident & CEO

St. Luke’s Medical Center

President, St. Luke’s Medical

Center Foundation, Inc.

the teams who head out are

well equipped. Various surgical

and dental equipment were

purchased by the Foundation, to

be used by Sagip Bayan in their

missions. The Foundation also

acquired a portable anesthesia

machine, in order to serve more

indigent patients in hard-to-

reach areas.

The spirit of these medical

missions is truly inspiring. And it

cannot be done alone. Working

together, we reach more people

in need. Come, join us!

SY N E R GY

March 2018

02

Sophia was diagnosed with Frontonasal

Encephalocele. Since birth, her parents

Jomel Soler and Lovely Eugenio would

have a hard time cradling their baby, who

would struggle with the growing mass on

the face. She was always uncomfortable,

and irritated, and it pained her parents

to see her so unhappy. With the help

of the Foundation and the St. Luke’s

Social Service Dept., Sophia underwent

extracranial repair, which aims to lessen

the amount of mass on her face. Seven

months later, with a significant amount

reduced, Sophia cannot stop laughing

and smiling. She is a playful three-year-old

THE JOYFUL HEARTTHE AMAZING TRANSFORMATION OF THREE-YEAR-OLD SOPHIA.

who reacts to her parents cooing. Sophia’s

father is jobless, but is a doting father to

his daughter; while her mother is a library

clerk and the sole income provider for the

family. Despite their hardships, it evident in

Sophia’s smile that this is a family that has

survived with a lot of love.

SY N E R GY

March 2018

03

Last year, the St. Luke’s Medical Center

Foundation, Inc. was able to help about

20,000 total patients. In order to help

boost its outreach program so that they

can reach more people in need, the

Foundation has acquired a new portable

anesthesia machine.

The new machine will be put to good

use by the Foundation’s outreach partners

such as Sagip Bayan and the St. Luke’s-

Global City doctors who regularly conduct

surgical missions around the country.

Having refocused many of its outreach

activities to serve the surgical needs of the

WIDER REACHTHE FOUNDATION ACQUIRES A NEW PORTABLE ANESTHESIA MACHINE.

indigent patients in depressed and far flung

communities, this machine allows them to

conduct more operations, especially to

areas that are hard to reach. Along with its

pool of surgeons and other multi-specialty

physicians, the mission’s objective is to

render free services that leave a lasting

impact on the lives of the beneficiaries.

The new anesthesia machine is light

and easily transportable to many places.

It has a four-wheel carrying case, and is

equipped with the necessary features to

meet international standards such as ISO,

CGA, BS, CSA, UL, IEC 601, to name a few.

SY N E R GY

March 2018

04

Medical missions are one of the pillars

of this Foundation. They allow volunteer

doctors to trek to communities with a lack

of access to proper healthcare, and offer

their services. For many communities, this

is the only opportunity they have to be

treated, or even to be given medicine or

care. Some people’s lives even depend on it.

In line with the growing number of

medical missions conducted by Sagip

Bayan, the Foundation purchased surgical

MISSION POSSIBLETHE FOUNDATION PURCHASES MORE

SURGICAL AND DENTAL INSTRUMENTS TO BE USED IN MEDICAL MISSIONS.

and dental instruments which will be used

by the organization in their journeys. This

purchase hopes to further equip the doctors

and dentists who join the missions, in order

to reach more people who are in need. Here,

Dr. Sammy Dee Tanzo, President of the

Sagip Bayan Foundation Inc. receives the

instruments from Olivia Yao, VP and Head

of Resource Development Group/Resource

Generation Director of the Foundation..

SY N E R GY

March 2018

05

MISSION: COMPASSIONA LOOK AT THREE MISSIONS THAT HAVE TRAVERSED FAR AND WIDE TO LEND A HAND TO THOSE IN NEED.

SY N E R GY

March 2018

06

Residents from a community in Quezon

City, which has a high concentration of

informal settlers, were given adequate

medical, dental, consultation and

screening services last January 13. The

medical and dental mission was an effort

born from the partnership of the St. Luke’s

Medical Center Foundation, Inc. and the

Philippine Nurses Association (PNA).

The mission targeted children and senior

citizens of Barangay, Tatalon, District 4 of

Quezon City. The Foundation provided the

medicine supplies, while the PNA came full

force with adequate manpower. A total of

about 200 patients were served by the end

of the mission.

TEAM SPIRITTHE FOUNDATION TEAMS UP WITH THE PNA TO HELP DISPLACED RESIDENTS OF BRGY. TATALON.

SY N E R GY

March 2018

07

Imagine this: a group of volunteers trekking

rocky hills, wading through rivers, and

braving slippery roads, in order to reach

Sitio Manalal in Capas, Tarlac—the farthest

of the Aeta communities in the province.

Here, the volunteers, members of the St.

Luke’s Medical Center Foundation and the

Support Services Group (SSG) of St. Luke’s

– Global City, partnered up with Project

Liwanag, a Non-Government Organization,

to reach out to the indigenous people in

Capas, Tarlac.

The Aetas who reside in the area were

able to receive medicine, health kits,

SPREADING THE LIGHT OF HOPEST. LUKE’S SUPPORT SERVICES GROUP AND THE FOUNDATION WITH PROJECT LIWANAG TREK TO THE AETA COMMUNITIES.

toiletries, food and clothing. Project

Liwanag has been involved in installing

electricity in remote tribal Aeta

communities, and it has partnered with St.

Luke’s also in such projects.

The volunteer groups passed through

hidden sitios, and were able to make

quick trips to tribes of Bulacan, Pilyen and

Pisapungan, where they were also warmly

received by the locals and their community

leaders. Here, they also distributed health

and first aid kits, as well as food packs and

sacks of rice from SSG.

SY N E R GY

March 2018

08

About 2,000 residents of the St. Martha Housing site—a resettlement area for the former informal settlers

of Quezon City—received free medical and dental services during the outreach mission conducted by

the volunteers of Sagip Bayan and the Foundation.

The activity was held on December 3 last year, at the Morong National High School in Sitio Talaga,

Barangay Maybangcal, in Morong, Rizal. The mission was held at the center of the vast shelter site

bought by the National Housing Authority (NHA) for the Quezon City residents affected by clearing

operations that affected about 1,500 families.

Volunteer multi-specialty doctors, dentists, and hospital staff from St. Luke’s extended free

ophthalmology, ENT, OB, dermatology, pediatric, surgical, as well as ECG and X-ray services during the

day’s mission. The NHA relocation site is beset by a fast growing population, and the lack of dedicated

healthcare facilities and personnel.

HOME IS WHERE THE HEART ISMORONG RESIDENTS DISPLACED BY CLEARING OPERATIONS GET FREE MEDICAL AND DENTAL SERVICES.

SY N E R GY

March 2018

09

Lordvin was diagnosed with Pituitary

Macroadenoma. He lifts his hands up to

show us the effects: his hands are swollen

to almost three times the size. He used to

be a mechanic in Abu Dhabi, and this is also

where he started noticing some symptoms.

His hands and feet were swollen, they were

numb, he could hardly move them, and all

his joints were aching. He decided to go

home to get checked. And after numerous

laboratory tests and visits to various

TRUE WARRIORLORDVIN MACALALAD NEVER GAVE UP ON HIS QUEST TO FIND ANSWERS. NOW HE IS ON THE ROAD TO TRUE HEALING.

hospitals, it was a hometown doctor in

Batangas who made the diagnosis, and

pointed him to the St. Luke’s Social Service

Department to ask for help. His wife is a

teacher, and because Lordvin had to resign

from his work abroad, money was difficult

to find for a father of two.

It took two years before they finally

found what was wrong. And though his

journey to getting better was frustrating,

he said, he never gave up, knowing that he

had a family to go home to. Today, he is

grateful. “Itinuro ako ng Panginoon dito sa

St. Luke’s. Maayos naman ang transaction

ko tsaka may proseso sila dito. Laking

tiwala ko dito,” he says. When before, he

couldn’t even close his hands, now he is

able to move them more freely. He hopes

to continue his healing process, and in the

future, he wants to be able to work again.

“May maliliit pa akong bata,” he says.