The $8-million Sentro Oftalmologico Jose Rizal was donated by the Agencia Española Cooperation International. It is housed in a newly constructed five-story building and equipped with state-of-the-art machines and facilities.
"PGH now has the biggest ophthalmology program in the entire country. We can provide all kinds of services — from minor eye care to major operations," Sentro manager Dr. Rolando Enrique Domingo said.
He said the project was conceptualized six years ago because of the high rate of blindness in the Philippines, mostly caused by reversible conditions such as cataracts that affect 1.7 percent of the population.
The Philippine and Spanish governments forged a deal to push through with the project, and the Filipinas Eye Center Foundation Inc. was created to manage and implement it.
Initially, the agency was only tasked to construct the building and donate it to the Philippine government.
Construction was completed in 2004 and the Philippine government was supposed to take out a loan from the Spanish government to purchase the equipment. "But after three years’ delay in obtaining the loan, the Spanish government decided to also give us more grants to cover the equipment," Domingo told The STAR.
PGH spokesman Dr. Michael Tee said the donation also has a training component for the benefit of Filipino eye doctors.
"That training component will further enhance the service of PGH and its leadership position in terms of ensuring good eyesight. This really benefits a lot of people," he added.
Tee claimed that with Sentro, the PGH would no longer need to send doctors abroad for specialty training since they can now be trained at the eye center.
PGH director Dr. Carmelo Alfiler said Sentro is "a trailblazing project in the Philippines and hopes to be one of the best national eye referral centers in Asia."
"The Spanish government is committed to showcasing Filipino ophthalmologic expertise, especially in the area of reducing blindness. The PGH is very privileged to have been chosen by the Philippine government as the seat of this showcase project so that we should rise to the challenge of excellence and leadership expected of us," he said.
About 98 percent of PGH outpatients seek treatment for ophthalmological conditions. When Sentro became operational last year, the hospital served around 60,000 patients — up from the 40,000 to 45,000 patients PGH usually serves each year.
Domingo said Sentro is now the venue of most cornea transplant operations in the country because the Eye Bank Foundation office has moved to PGH.
"We’ve always had the specialty and the general clinics. But because of the Spanish government, we have new diagnostic equipment and surgical machines and a new building. We are not only serving more people now, we are also training many doctors to become specialists," he said.