World-Class Healthcare

People in many parts of the world are aware of the first-class care they receive from Filipino healthcare professionals – from nurses to doctors to surgeons in many of the hospital systems worldwide. Just ask patients in the United States or the United Kingdom, for instance, and many will attest to the care they receive from Filipino nurses and doctors. That care extends well beyond hospitals and clinics all the way to nursing homes and out-patient services.

One should not be surprised, therefore, to find that medical services are an industry on the rise in the Philippines. It makes perfect sense. The country is a major source of medical professionals from nurses to medical technicians, doctors, surgeons, dentists, ophthalmologists, and other healthcare professionals. It stands to reason that if there were opportunities here, then so many of them would not leave to seek careers abroad.

Indeed, some opportunities are beginning to make an appearance. Major city hospitals over the last five years have vastly improved their facilities. A number of new ones have appeared. From St. Luke’s Medical Center to the new Medical City and Asian Hospital, new medical centers are sprouting in major cities like Manila. Eye clinics have a healthy practice going in laser eye surgery.

To be sure, there are potential stumbling blocks. For instance, many of our medical professionals are opting for nursing careers, partly to meet growing global demand and partly to get away to seek greener pastures. If this continues, expect fundamental shifts in enrollment in medical schools and changes in the medical education field. Enrollments for doctors may drop, forcing investors to invest less in medical schools and shift their investments in nursing schools. We are already seeing that in the shift from computer schools to nursing colleges.

But let’s look at the opportunities. The high level of healthcare and the legendary Filipino penchant for taking good care of people should make the country attractive to foreigners in search of treatment. Couple that with the tourism potential and the country should be able to recreate the type of medical and wellness tourism that we are now seeing rise in the region. We already have the basic component – the people – but are in need of additional infrastructure and facilities as well as the ability to exchange medical staff and information so that treatment for patients can proceed smoothly.

If those issues can be addressed, don’t be surprised to see hospitals and healthcare become the next sunrise industries for the Philippines.