DOH opens ‘most modern’ orthopedics, trauma care center in Pampanga
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO—Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa led the inauguration of the Center for Orthopedics and Trauma Care at Jose B. Lingad Memorial General Hospital (JBLMGH) here on Wednesday, hailing two of its six operating rooms to be the “most modern” in the county.
The two operating rooms are called “integrated” or equipped with robotic system fom India. The tools and devices are pendant or pulled from above the heads of surgeons.
“These are state-of-the-art operating rooms,” said Herbosa, a trauma surgeon, as he worked on the visual of what appeared to be a spine on a screen.
“I am at my happiest today because we are building a system,” he said, explaining the facility was the latest addition to the Department of Health’s (DOH) 87 medical centers and 160 specialty centers.
The focus of the center, he added, should be efficiency and service by those who run it.
The specialty center is the first in Central Luzon and the second in the country after a private facility in Batangas province.
Saving lives
According to Herbosa, the center “enhances access to health services” and aims to “sav[e] more lives.” Constructing specialty centers in the provinces is part of the eight-point health agenda of the Marcos administration, he said.
Herbosa also emphasized trauma prevention through the strict enforcement and compliance with the use of helmets, seatbelts and other road safety measures. He said a study he led covering 2012 to 2020 showed that 70 percent of trauma cases killed passengers or motorists age 5 to 24 years who often rode motorcycles.
“These trauma cases are preventable. Pedestrians can be protected if local governments can reclaim sidewalks from vendors,” he pointed out.
Dr. Monserrat Chichioco said the center was “ready to be used” as the old facility was being prepared for closure.
She said JBLMGH handled 27,740 trauma cases in 2024, with 8,659 admitted for surgeries or procedures.
The center, built over three years, is among the 15 centers that JBLMGH has established or upgraded in 10 years. The Pampanga provincial government allowed the hospital to use 2.54 hectares under a usufruct agreement.
