New Life Center offers a new you

The New Life Aesthetic and Plastic Surgery Center joins the Philippines’ quest for a respectable slice of the medical tourism pie this part of Asia with the June opening of its facility in Mandaluyong City and a tie-up to offer so-called "beauty holidays."

"A beauty holiday is the first formal medical tourism package where the patient is met at the airport, transferred to his hotel or resort of choice, brought to the clinic for treatment, endorsed to care-giving services or a private nurse if necessary, and cleared for travel at the end of his holiday before going home," explained Dr. Romeo M. Vergara Jr., president of New Life Center.

Founded by Vergara and plastic surgeon Dr. James B. Joaquino, New Life Center guarantees that patients will be attended to by plastic surgeons and medical specialists who are all board-certified.

"We have to inform and educate patients to check the credentials of their service providers," said Joaquino, chairman of the new enterprise.

Getting specialty board accreditation is a rigorous process but supposedly ensures the safety of the patient because the doctor is accountable not only to his patient but also to his colleagues at the board who certified to his skill and knowledge. Joaquino has a diplomate both from the Philippine Board of Plastic Surgery and from the Philippine Board of Surgery.

"Our health professionals can easily match those in the United States. After all, we’ve been exporting our doctors and nurses there for 50 years now. Our medical and nursing curricula are a lot longer than many of our neighbors in Southeast Asia. A plastic surgeon goes through four years of undergraduate school, another four years in medicine, a year of internship and he has to pass the government exam. Afterwards, he goes through three to five years of residency for his specialization before he can put up a clinic or even join a specialists group. To be a plastic surgeon, he undergoes three more years of training in that sub-specialized field. That’s more than 15 years for doctors who want to practice plastic surgery," said Vergara.

Targeted toward both local and foreign clients, New Life Center has an office in Hong Kong that serves as a one-stop shop for bookings. It has a nationwide tie up with facilities in Central Luzon, Cebu and Cagayan de Oro for both resort accommodations packaged with cosmetic surgical procedures including breast augmentation and reduction, whole body liposculpture, face lift, abdominoplasty or tummy tuck, rhinoplasty or nose reshaping, blepharoplasty or eyelid surgery, chin augmentation, scar revision and sclerotherapy, a treatment for the appearance of leg veins.

An agreement with the Ricky Reyes group also allows for the inclusion of a Ricky Reyes cosmetic makeover in the beauty holiday package for total client satisfaction.

For many medical tourists, the real attraction is significant cost savings. After road shows in San Francisco, Las Vegas and Los Angeles, Joaquino and Vergara found that Philippine rates are 60 to 70 percent cheaper than US rates. This leaves our kababayans with more money to splurge on their holiday.

The most requested procedure still remains to be nose improvement which costs between $1,500 to $2,000 as an end-to-end beauty holiday, depending on the accommodations chosen and round-trip airfare rates for the country of origin.

Due to relative affordability, New Life Center has seen overseas Filipino workers saving up or availing of a lay-away plan to have their cosmetic procedures done at the same time as their annual vacation. It seems to be a real treat for them to finally be able to afford some beautifying procedures for themselves, and they deserve it.

* * *

New Life Aesthetic and Plastic Surgery Center

G/F Summit Building, Shaw Boulevard, Mandaluyong City
687 0795, 687 4332, +1-800-293-9703
http://newlifeplasticsurgery.com/
New Life Center c/o Breakleader
Shop 243 Worldwide Plaza
19 Desvoeux Road, Central, Hong Kong
+852 2801 6008