The Los Baños Health Center was recently adopted by the SM Foundation as its 66th Felicidad Sy Wellness Center by completely renovating the Center including repainting with wall murals, improving its facilities plus an added child-friendly activity Center, the Felicidad T. Sy Activity Center for Children. The refurbished Center was turned over by Health and Medical Programs executive director Connie Angeles to local government officials led by Mayor Anthony Genuino, Vice Mayor Josephine Evangelista and Municipal health officer Dr. Alvin Isidoro.

In inaugural ceremonies held recently, Angeles said, “SM Foundation is heeding the call for a strengthened Private-Public Partnership and this endeavor to assist various Health Centers obtain an accreditation from the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PHIC) by upgrading its facilities to enable them to deliver primary health care to its constituents and at the same time decongest government hospitals is part of our corporate social responsibility.“ “When representatives of the SM Foundation came to inform us that the Center was chosen as recipient of its Barangay/Municipal Health Center improvement program, I thought it was too good to be true,“ gushed Dr. Isidoro. “With the revitalization of the Municipal Health Office, the patient heavy health office will now become an improved and modernized healthcare facility for the people of Los Baños.“ On his part, Mayor Anthony Genuino envisions the facility as a Center for preventive and curative care of beneficiaries from Los Baños. Vice Mayor Evangelista thinks the colorful murals in the activity center provided with amenities like toys/books/TV sets/DVDs/slides/swing will dispel the fears of children seeking medical attention in the health hub.

A Felicidad Sy Wellness Center named after the wife of Henry Sy, Sr. SM Foundation Chairman, is a reno vated public health center or a renovated, refurbished wing in a government hospital creating an atmosphere conducive to healing and recuperation.

To date, there are 66 Felicidad Sy Wellness Centers, six Felicidad Sy Wards (wards for wounded soldiers, wards for the differently-abled), 35 Wellness Center for Children, 14 Centers for the Elderly, five Hospice Centers and six Municipal Health Centers located throughout the country.

Aside from the Los Baños Health Center, the Olongapo Health Center is slated to be finished and inaugurated within the year.