Why high-stakes surgeries should be done here at home

There are moments in medicine that remind us why we do what we do.

- By Dr. Stuart Bennett, president and group CEO, The Medical City

One of those moments came this year when a 14-month-old boy became the first patient to undergo a liver transplant through The Medical City's new partnership with Rizal Medical Center. His mother was his living donor. The donor surgery was performed using a fully robotic technique, the first of its kind in the Philippines. Two days later, she was walking. Weeks later, she was holding her child again, with a future that had once felt uncertain now within reach.

That single moment showed what is possible for Philippine healthcare. It proved that we have the skill, the technology, and the commitment to deliver outcomes at the highest level. It showed that Filipino families should not have to leave the country or carry the heavy burden of cost and separation to receive the care they deserve.