OFW Hospital served 86k OFWs, families in 2024 - DMW

More than 80,000 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and their families were assisted by the OFW Hospital in San Fernando City, Pampanga, in 2024, according to the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW).

Citing a report from OFW Hospital Medical Center chief Dr. Ralph Julius Mendoza, the DMW said on Friday that a total of 86,371 OFWs and their dependents received medical assistance in 2024—523 of whom were confined, 41,282 were outpatients, and 2,711 needed urgent medical care.

A total of 41,855 patients availed themselves of various medical services, such as radiology, respiratory, cardiology, and laboratory services.

The hospital also provided medicine from their in-house pharmacy, Pre-Employment Medical Examination packages for would-be OFWs, and Medical Assistance and the Medical Repatriation Program for repatriated OFWs.

Meanwhile, the DMW recently had a groundbreaking for the OFW Hospital-Bagong Pilipinas Cancer Care Center, which aims to provide hemodialysis and cancer care units for OFWs and their qualified dependents.

“The OFW Hospital envisions elevating its 50-bed capacity hospital into a premier tertiary center that offers highly specialized diagnostic and therapeutic services tailored to the unique needs of migrant workers,” the DMW said.

In 2022, the OFW Hospital was opened on a 1.5-hectare property provided by the Pampanga provincial government. It is managed by the UP-Philippine General Hospital. — Jiselle Anne Casucian/VBL, GMA Integrated News