Care system Secondary Standards Primary care Phone +63 74 386 4045 Date founded 1956 | Hospital type Private, missionary Emergency department Yes Standard Primary care Funding Non-profit Hospital | |
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Location Sitio Ilogue, Brgy. Tam-an, Banaue, Ifugao, Cordillera Administrative Region, Philippines Helipad Formerly (now uses town helipad) Address Ilogue, Banaue, Philippines Similar Good News Clinic, Insular Health Care - Inc, Dr Antonio P Ligot, Ifugao Provincial Hospital, Bontoc General Hospital | ||
Good News Clinic and Hospital, Inc., shortened to GNCH or Good News, is a missions hospital and first response facility located in Banaue, Ifugao. It is the only private hospital in Ifugao, and until 2015, the only primary care hospital in the province before the provincial hospital in Lamut, Ifugao was built.
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History
Good News started out as a military medical mission at the close of World War II, as military personnel from the nearby former Ifugao capital town of Kiangan began to visit Banaue for the Banaue Rice Terraces. Dr. James Irvine, a US Army surgeon and Evangelical Christian missionary, came back to establish Good News Clinic in 1956 at Barrio Tam-an, with surplus US military medical equipment.
Facilities
The Guesthouse is the first facility to be built in the compound at its establishment in 1956. However, with the growing need for in-patient facility, the current hospital building was built in 1960. Expansions were made mid-1970s to accommodate more rooms for hospital beds and laboratory facilities. Currently, the main hospital includes an FDA-licensed pharmacy, out-patient clinics, hospital rooms for 25 patients, a radiology room and a laboratory.
Within the compound, a staff house billets employees non-resident in Banaue, though a separate nursing staff house also stands closer to the hospital. Between the guesthouse and the hospital building stands an Evangelical chapel, catering to the spiritual needs of both patients and their families, and the staff, with regular Sunday services at 4:30pm.
The hospital administration also runs Good News Christian Academy of Ifugao, an educational arm established in 1996. It is situated in the former helipad facility of the hospital, hence the hospital now uses the helipad facility of the town situated in front of the Hall of Justice in Banaue.
Conversion
During the incumbency of Dr. Antonio Ligot since 1988, Good News was converted into a level 1 hospital facility catering to up to 30 patients. While the hospital currently lacks personnel, this is supplemented by regular medical missions by various medical groups upon request of Dr. Ligot.