PERCHED on the sprawling rolling hills of Mountain Province in upland Cordillera, the state-owned Luis Hora Memorial Regional Hospital has evolved to become a model of health care and services in the Cordillera Autonomous Region (CAR) and even the adjacent Ilocos and Cagayan Valley regions.
Luis Hora, as a general hospital, attends to practically all kinds of illnesses that medical science can handle. Luis Hora, as a regional hospital, has the people of CAR as its primary focus, particularly the people of the provinces of Mountain Province, Abra, Benguet, Apayao, Kalinga, and Ifugao. The improved quality of roads that connects CAR to adjacent regions makes the hospital accessible to the people of the Ilocos region, particularly Ilocos Norte, and Cagayan Valley, specifically the provinces of Cagayan, Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya, and Quirino.
The Luis Hora Memorial Regional Hospital occupies the sprawling six hectare state property, of which an hectare is devoted for its various structures that house its medical facilities. Its facility is at the Abatan Junction in the town of Bauko in Mt. Province. Because it is the only one of its kind – a regional and general ospital – Luis Hora admits and attends to every citizen, who has medical issues.
It is efficiently and effectively run by its medical and non-medical staff led by Dr. Eduardo Calpito, who has been its head for a decade. The Department of Health (DoH) and Commission on Audit (CoA) have reported that Luis Hora has been doing fairly well to provide healthcare services to the people of CAR and adjacent regions. It has not been involved whatsoever in graft or any violation of its mandate.
This hospital was originally established as the Mountain Province General Hospital by virtue of RA 1806, the law that served as the legal basis. Luis Hora, the lawmaker representing Mountain Province at that time, sponsored the law in Congress and it was approved on June 22, 1957 . The first hospital facility was established in the town of Kayan, now Tadian, in Mt. Province.
This hospital has been named after Luis Hora by virtue of Batas Pambansa Blg. 836, which was enacted on April 17, 1984. In 1992, Congress expanded its medical capability to become the Luis Hora Memorial Hospital with 100-bed capacity by virtue of RA 7445 to provide medical services to tackle various illnesses amid the rising population in the region.
Its expansion did not abruptly end here. Because of the growing medical needs of the Cordillera people, the hospital further expanded in 1997 by virtue of RA 8314, a congressional act that has elevated its grade from a provincial hospital to become a national and regional hospital. Because of the legislative fiat, Congress allocated an improved part of the health budget to this hospital. In 2018, Congress further upgraded this hospital to a 200-bed capacity medical center from its former 100-bed capacity by virtue of RA 11104.
Luis Hora’s recent expansion and development is largely due to the efficient and competent leadership of Dr. Eduardo Calpito, who as its chief since 2017, has led its unprecedented growth. As its chief, Calpito led its transformation to become a specialty center in the Cordilleras. It has created its Dialysis Center to become the first in the CAR. Calpito supervised the construction of the building, which its former chief, Dr. Matthew Baggao initiated, to its completion in 2017.
Because of Calpito’s leadership, the Dialysis Center has had at least ten working dialysis units since March 8, 2017. Calpito took the initiative to enrol the Dialysis Center under the Philippine Health Corporation (PHIC) to lessen the patients’ expenses since it started its operations on Sept. 1, 2017 under the leadership of Dr. Cheryl Menia. The Center helps patients, including those with chronic kidney disease (CKD) in the region.
Because of the population pressures, it is inevitable that efforts to provide better healthcare services would encounter issues. Calpito foresaw the need to improve the services of Luis Hora. Calpito has led the implementation of the P45 million expansion project of the hospital, which include the construction of new facilities and the provision of widened medical services.
Of the amount, P37.5 million has been earmarked for the third part of the improvement of its facilities, including its extension ward at the construction of the two-storey building for patients with mental issues. About P7 million is being spent for the acute psychiatric building.
The hospital also pursued the reorganization of its frontline services. It includes the proposed P25 million for major projects like the relocation of the Emergency Room to the zone more accessible to patients, who require emergency medicine. Also included were improvements of the Public Health Unit at Health Emergency Management Unit.
Calpito also led in the pursuit of the P4 milyon solar power pilot for some edifices in the hospital compound. This is in answer to the Green Health Facilities Program of the national government. Calpito led in the following listed initiatives – oxygen generating plants, waste autoclave, deep well construction, motor pool building, powerhouse repair, administrative office, laundry area, access road to oxygen plant.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, Luis Hora provided several rooms for Cod-19 patients – 4 rooms for the severe cases, 8 rooms for the moderate – with the capacity to expand 20 rooms for moderate at 15 isolation rooms for chronic patients. Luis Hora had a license as Covid-19 testing center and RT-PCR molecular lab from Feb 4 until Dec 31, 2021.
There are several projects that are being pursued under the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the provincial local government unit (PLGU) of Mountain Province to integrate human resources for better healthcare. The Cordillera Drug Rehabilitation Center (DATRC-MP) has been established in a one-hectare facility of the hospital. It is the first facility to address the illegal drug issue in the region.
With its 40 staff, Luis Hora stated on Nov. 21,, 2024 the Far North Luzon General Hospital as the Leptospirosis Center. It will provide healthcare services to leptospirosis patients.
In brief, Calpito is the leader at the forefront of the improvement of the medical services of Luis Hora Memorial Regional Hospital from a 100-bed provincial hospital to a 200-bed Level 3 regional referral center, which has medical services in dialysis, psychiatric, molecular lab, solar, and rehab center. Dr. Eduardo Calpito has emerged to be a highly skilled hospital administrator. (To be concluded)
