Healthway Cancer Care Hospital offers comprehensive care at lower costs

The hospital in Taguig City has four centres of excellence.

Inaugurated on 24 November 2023, Healthway Cancer Care Hospital (HCCH) in the Philippines offers a full spectrum of services dedicated to cancer care.

Dr. Manuel Roxas, medical director of HCCH, told Healthcare Asia that the hospital has been fully operational since its launch, highlighting its cancer programmes and four centres of excellence in breast cancer, colorectal cancer, head and neck cancer, and lung cancer.

“Each of these centres of excellence and programmes is manned by teams of cancer specialists who are doctors, nurses, and a navigator for our patients to be coursed through in their journey to treatment,” Roxas said.

He said the new hospital features diagnostic and treatment facilities made possible through partnerships with Siemens Healthineers, Varian, and Cancer Treatment Services International (CTSI).

“That includes a PET CT scan and the usual imaging, MRI, and CT scans. We also have radiation therapy facilities, chemotherapy treatments, and surgical services. So the whole spectrum of diagnosis, staging and treatment we are already offering.” Roxas said.

“To add to our services and to help our cancer teams, we have also partnered with international entities like the National Cancer Centre of Singapore, with ongoing discussions with centres abroad,” he added.

Valuable insights

Building HCCH was no easy feat, and according to Healthway Medical Network CEO, Jaime Ysmael,  they had to employ services from various consultants to design a hospital fully dedicated to cancer care.

“We looked at best practices abroad through many visits in North America, Asia, and Australia to make sure that we get the best of breed as we develop a cancer hospital in the Philippines,” Ysmael said.

Meanwhile, the organisation had to coordinate closely with the Department of Health (DOH) to ensure the hospital adhered to requirements stemming from the National Integrated Cancer Control Act (NICCA).

Established in 2019, NICCA aims to strengthen cancer control policies, programmes, systems, interventions, and services at all levels of the country’s healthcare delivery system.

Moreover, Ysmael shared how stakeholder input was a key consideration during HCCH’s development. “We liaised and coordinated with patient groups to ensure that their inputs are considered in designing the cancer hospital. We needed to hear out our patients and address their needs,” he said.

Affordable and accessible

Moving forward, HCCH aims to become a reference hospital for complex cases whilst providing cost-effective services to a broader Filipino population.

When asked about how the hospital plans to position itself in the country’s healthcare landscape, Dr. Conrado Lorenzo III, chairman of HCCH’s Medical Advisory Council,  emphasised they will commit to offering accessible services at lower costs.

“Since we are a greenfield hospital, we can build upon a culture of care, where we put a premium not only on outcomes but also on the patient's experience,” Lorenzo said.

“We would measure our metrics not only on how they do but in terms of simple things like our processes turnaround time,” he added.

The hospital’s leaders are proud of having consulted in different cancer institutes in India, Singapore, and other countries. Their backgrounds provide them the experience to incorporate successful components in addressing patient needs, whilst inviting doctors from fields such as surgery, radiation oncology, and other subspecialties to enhance their approach.

Located in Taguig City, HCCH stands as the Philippines’ first comprehensive cancer hospital offering complete services from diagnostics to chemotherapy, and surgical treatments.