The Philippine Heart Center is a hospital in Central,

Quezon City Quezon City (, ; fil, Lungsod Quezon ), also known as the City of Quezon and Q.C. (read in Filipino as Kyusi), is the most populous city in the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 2,960,048 people. It was fou ...

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

, specializing in the treatment of heart ailments. It was established in 1975.

Background

The Philippine Heart Center is a hospital specializing in the treatment of heart ailments. It has rooms for paying patients and charity patients and admits more than 14,000 patients every year, including 3,300 that undergo heart surgery. It holds regular training programs for medical professionals. It as one of the busiest congenital heart surgery centers in Asia, according to its website. It is currently headed by cardiologist Joel M. Abanilla.

History

The Philippine Heart Center was established through ''Presidential Decree No. 673'' issued by

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

Ferdinand E. Marcos Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos Sr. ( , , ; September 11, 1917 – September 28, 1989) was a Filipino politician, lawyer, dictator, and kleptocrat who was the 10th president of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He ruled under martial ...

in 1975. The building is identified with what is referred to as the Marcoses' "

edifice complex The term "edifice complex" was coined in the 1970s to describe Philippine First Lady Imelda Marcos' practice of using publicly funded construction projects as political and election propaganda. Built with a Brutalist architectural style, perhap ...

," defined by architect Gerard Lico as "an obsession and compulsion to build edifices as a hallmark of greatness." The hospital was built using 50% of the national health budget, according to Senator Jose W. Diokno, "while around the country, Filipinos were dying of curable illnesses like TB uberculosis whooping cough, and dysentery." Its original name was the Philippine Heart Center for Asia and was changed to its current form in 1975. The first patient to be admitted to the PHC was Imelda Francisco, on April 14, 1975.

Cardiovascular The blood circulatory system is a system of organs that includes the heart, blood vessels, and blood which is circulated throughout the entire body of a human or other vertebrate. It includes the cardiovascular system, or vascular system, tha ...

specialists including

Christiaan Barnard Christiaan Neethling Barnard (8 November 1922 – 2 September 2001) was a South African cardiac surgeon who performed the world's first human-to-human heart transplant operation. On 3 December 1967, Barnard transplanted the heart of accident-v ...

, Denton Cooley, Donald Effler, and Charles Bailey practised there. The first Director of the PHC was Avenilo P. Aventura (1974-1986), a cardiovascular surgeon who performed many pioneering operations in the Philippines including the first successful renal transplantation in 1970, the first CABG in 1972, and developed and implanted the first

ASEAN ASEAN ( , ), officially the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, is a political and economic union of 10 member states in Southeast Asia, which promotes intergovernmental cooperation and facilitates economic, political, security, militar ...

bioprosthesis, the PHCA porcine valve. In 2014, the Philippine Heart Center was given a Qmentum International Gold Accreditation for August 2014 – 2017 by Accreditation Canada International for "excellence in hospital practices and safety.

Architecture and design

The hospital building was designed by Filipino architect Jorge Ramos in what has been described as a Brutalist style. It was built in 1975 with a reported cost of almost US$50 million. It was co-founded by Dr. Ludgerio D. Torres.

References

External links

* {{authority control Hospital buildings completed in 1975 Hospitals in Quezon City Government-owned and controlled corporations of the Philippines Heart disease organizations Hospitals established in 1975 Buildings and structures in Quezon City