CEBU, Philippines — In its mission to bring smiles and improve the lives of people with cleft lip and palate deformities, Operation Smile Philippines has officially launched the world's largest cleft care center at Cebu City Memorial Medical Center (CCMC).
This announcement was made during the soft launch of the Cebu Comprehensive Cleft Care Center of Excellence, a collaboration between Operation Smile Philippines, Operation Smile International, and the Mariquita Salimbangon Yeung (MSY) Charitable Foundation Inc., on Friday, September 28.
Cebu City Acting Mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia expressed his amazement at the transformation of what was once an empty floor into a world-class medical facility. Located on the 7th floor of CCMC, the cleft care center offers free surgeries for individuals with cleft lip and palate.
“This is a living testament of how unity with a shared purpose and goal can come into fruition and make the biggest cleft-care facility in the entire world,”
The center provides comprehensive care at no cost, covering medical supplies, patient care, transportation, meals, and lodging for patients and their families or guardians.
Spanning 2,000 square meters (approximately 20,000 square feet), the ambulatory unit features five operating rooms, 20 pre-operation beds, and 20 post-operation beds.
At its grand opening next month, the cleft care center will serve 100 patients, ranging in age from 6 months to 51 years, from 12 local government units (LGUs) in Cebu.
These first 100 patients will come from Cebu City, Minglanilla, City of Naga, Compostela, Danao City, Mandaue City, Bogo City, San Remegio, Daanbantayan, Medellin, Lapu-Lapu City, and San Francisco, Camotes Island.
“This is just the beginning, as we aim to partner with every LGU across Cebu Province as well as further organizations to reach every single family we can. Undoubtedly, turn to many of you on this journey,” said Kevin Thor, Director of Global Project Development at Operation Smile headquarters.
In the coming months, the cleft care center aims to serve 160 patients per month, reaching up to 2,000 patients annually with their comprehensive care services.
Operation Smile’s Cebu center asserts its capability to provide extensive cleft care to thousands of children, while also advancing medical education to improve access to cleft care across the Visayas region.
Garcia, proud to host the cleft care center, has set a goal to complete 80 to 90 percent of the CCMC by the end of the year, ahead of the 2025 midterm elections.
“This month or next month we will bid an award the completion of the 4th, 5th, 6th floors and this (7th) will also coincide side by side with the finishing of the 8th, 9th, and 10th floor,” said the acting mayor.
“Hopefully, all of these will simultaneously start and maybe perhaps in less than a year we can see something substantial already for our people,” Garcia added.
Operation Smile was founded by William Magee and co-founded by Kathy Magee, who have been supporting Filipinos with cleft lip and palate for over 46 years. For the past 26 years, they have extended their services in Cebu in collaboration with the Mariquita Salimbangon Yeung (MSY) Charitable Foundation.
Cebuana philanthropist and businesswoman Mariquita Salimbangon-Yeung, through her MSY Charitable Foundation, has been instrumental in making this center a reality. Together with hundreds of donors, they are helping children with cleft lip, palate, and other facial deformities to transform their lives for a brighter future.
Yeung mentioned that the center was initially scheduled to open in December 2023, but unavoidable circumstances caused a delay. She expressed her relief and happiness that the center is finally open, thanks to the support of many donors, most of whom are her friends.
“I cannot sleep every night. Can you imagine daghan kaayo ni og donors, unya na delayed gyud ang opening. I am just so happy that finally, the center is here, ready to serve our indigent patients,” said Yeung.
Yeung added, “My role is always and forever “the funder, the beggar of Operation Smile. Mao na ang akong number one role intawon I think I was born to help the less fortunate and I take it very very seriously because I know that this is what God wants me to do.”
Martin Yeung, OSP Board member and head of the MSY Foundation, described the cleft care center as starting from "ground zero" before construction began. The vision for this center was conceived 10 years ago, and from the outset, they chose CCMC as the ideal location.
“All you have to do is look around, look at the quality, look at the finishing, all the construction, you can really see that no dime was used unspent wisely. Every single peso was used for a reason,” Martin said.
Although Martin did not disclose the exact budget for the project, he emphasized that this Public-Private partnership invested a substantial amount of money to ensure the delivery of top-quality services to their beneficiaries.
On the other hand, OSP Board of Trustees president, Donald Lim emphasized that despite misconceptions on cleft conditions that are not life-threatening, they are here to instill the transformative impact it would create for their patients.
“Sometimes when we asked for donations, they would say smile lang yan eh. Di naman life threatening eh? It’s really life changing to move from hindi kayang mag smile, nahihiya ka, nakatago ka. Now, proud ka na, lalabas ka na kaya mo ng ngumiti and that’s empowering,” said Lim. (CEBU NEWS)