The Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital – Department of Health Cancer Care Center in Bacolod City will officially open to serve cancer patients throughout the Negros Island Region (NIR) starting August 26.
The center, a two-story building that cost P35 million, was inaugurated on Wednesday, August 20.
“This is a milestone not only for the hospital, not only for Negros Island Region, but also a milestone for the country’s fight against cancer,” Dr. Razel Nikka M. Hao, DOH NIR regional director, said.
“Expertise, equipment, and services should not be concentrated in Manila—they must be brought closer to the different islands of the country and closer to communities,” she said.
“This is not just a facility — it is proof that the reforms the DOH has fought for at the policy table are now reaching the ground, where they matter most,” she said.
The DOH-CLMMRH center is equipped to deliver IV chemotherapy, bone marrow biopsies, lumbar punctures, intrathecal chemotherapy, child life services, and seamless referrals for radiotherapy, Hao said.
It is also designed with financing systems to protect patients through PhilHealth’s Z-benefit packages and the Cancer Assistance Fund, which will ensure that treatment is not only available but accessible, she said.
The CLMMRH-DOH Cancer Care Center is not just a treatment site; “it is the apex of a regional cancer care network,” Hao said.
Cancer will remain one of our toughest public health challenges in decades to come, she said, so the work ahead is to expand early detection so patients are diagnosed early.
“The true measure of this facility will not be in its inauguration, but in the lives it saves, the families it keeps whole, and the dignity it restores to people at their most vulnerable,” Hao said.
Cancer is presently the second highest cause of mortality among Filipinos, making it a primary health concern. It is important that cancer care is accessible, comprehensive, and affordable, Dr. Joan Cerrada, CLMMRH chief, said in her speech.
She said the CLMMRH Cancer Care Center’s journey dates back to 1994 when Dr. Adonis Guancia, along with the Faces Foundation and the Andres Soriano Foundation, set up the first Oncology Unit in Negros Island.
In 2024 then CLMMRH chief Dr. Julius M. Drilon and Guancia, through funding from the Department of Public Works and Highways sought by then-Rep. Greg Gasataya, initiated building the CLMMRH Cancer Care Center to serve more patients.
The ground floor of the Cancer Care Center services cancer patients from consultation to patient and family counseling and patient’s chemotherapy.
The second floor houses the Child Life Program Clinic, Survivorship/Quality of Life Clinic, Cancer Research Office, Conference Room for Multi-Disciplinary Team planning and discussions, Oncology Pharmacy, DOH-PHIC Access office, Billing and Medical Social Services stations, and staff’s office, she said.
The center now offers a one-stop-shop experience for patients and their families, she said.
The CLMMRH Cancer Center caters to about 180 pediatric patients and around 1,500 adult cancer patients per year, Cerrada said.
About 500 of these patients received assistance from the Comprehensive Social Programs for Medical Assistance of the People, and 1,000 received assistance of up to P150,000 each from the Cancer Assistance Fund of the DOH, she said.
Since March 2025, they have also enrolled about 100 patients under the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PHIC) benefit package for breast cancer, Cerrada said.
“These collective efforts and assistance from CLMMRH, DOH, and PHIC resulted in no balance billing for our cancer patients with basic accommodation,” she said.
They will be able to accommodate 40 patients a day for chemotherapy, John Philip Rollo, OIC nurse supervisor of the Cancer Care Center.
Gasataya, who had sought the funding for the facility when he was congressman, said “this project is finally here to serve the people of Negros. This is part of our commitment to bring specialty health services closer to home.”
He said the Cancer Care Center structure is ready for additional floors when more funding is available.*