OLLH LeadCom from (Left to Right): Dr. Consuelo Suarez (Asst. Medical Director – Training), Dr. Geraldine Dela Fuente (AVP – Ancillary Services), Dr. Milagros Joyce Santos (VP – Medical Director), Paul Richard Camangian (President & CEO), Ruth Camero (AVP – Nursing Services), Dr. Alvis Sarte (Asst. Medical Director and Chief of Clinics), Jun Diamante (Chief Finance Officer)
“With the Holy Spirit Sisters and Father Kidz knocking on heaven’s door in our behalf, how can we fail?”
These words from Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital’s new President and CEO, Paul Richard Camangian, resounded, not only in Basilio Valdez Hall but also in OLLH’s Facebook page where over 3,000 netizens were tuned in, on July 15, 2020 in the hospital’s 72nd Anniversary’s Facebook Live Celebration. It was said right after Mr. Camangian challenged everyone to put OLLH back in the map of preferred hospitals in Metro Manila.
The 72nd Anniversary celebration further stressed the importance of OLLH’s continuing commitment to its mission of providing Christ-centered holistic healing, and of adapting such mission to this fast-paced digital age and to the evolving needs of patients and established protocols during this COVID-19 pandemic. To put it in the words of our Medical Director, Dr. Milagros Joyce Santos, OLLH is approaching the coming years as a “Christ-centered healing based on best clinical practices delivered in consistent and integrated system-supported processes, at an equitable and appropriate cost to the patients it serves”.
These prospects seem more likely when paired with this years’ anniversary theme, #WeAreOLLHinThisTogether, which combined “OLLH” and the phrase “We Are All in This Together”. It may seem like a battle cry for the hospital staff or for OLLH as an organization, but it also serves as OLLH’s assurance to its patients and clients that even in these trying times, the hospital provides no less than satisfactory patient experience and nothing but the best possible care characterized by physical, emotional, social, spiritual, and intellectual (holistic) healing. It holds together OLLH’s promises to its patients and clients wittily encapsulated in the following hashtags: #YouAreSAFEatLourdes and #YourSafetyMattersatLourdes.
“#WeAreOLLHinThisTogether does not mean just being the same, copycats of each other; that we simply say what is expected of us even if it is totally against our conscience… I think the true spirit behind [it] is being of one heart, one mind, and one soul, in seeking the will of God for us, individually and as OLLH-EMHMC family. Finding this, it implies the willingness and commitment to see things through together, until its completion…’We are OLLH in this together through thick and thin, as we often say, because we believe this is the way to go. This is what we are called to. This is what we hope for.” Sister Carmelita Victoria, SSpS Provincial Leader, towards the end of her speech, left the audience with this impactful interpretation of the anniversary’s theme.
Despite having gone so far, 72 years hence, and going on its tenth year of management under the East Manila Hospital Managers Corporation this November 1, 2020, OLLH holds on to its roots dearly. It was established, inaugurated, and blessed under the patronage of Mama Mary by Major General Basilio Valdez together with Dr. and Mrs. Carlos Casas on July 15, 1948, in response to the crying need for hospitals after World War II.
Today, and in the years ahead, standing tall on the shoulders of those who have gone before us, OLLH-EMHMC moves and will keep moving forward and go the extra mile, with its mission of being a Christ-centered community of professional healthcare providers promoting holistic healing, and again, in response to the crying needs of people in this and the coming times.