FACT CHECK: Soon-to-rise Bulacan hospital not the biggest in the Philippines

Claim: Once completed, the St. Bernadette Mother and Child Hospital in Bulacan will be the biggest hospital in the Philippines. 

Rating: FALSE

Why we fact-checked this: The YouTube video containing the claim has 34,662 views as of writing. It was posted on August 19 by a YouTube channel that has 750,000 subscribers. 

The video has the following text in its thumbnail: “[Sa wakas] heto na! Pinaka-malaking hospital nilabas na!” (It’s finally here! Biggest hospital is here!)

The video features the groundbreaking ceremony for the St. Bernadette Mother and Child Hospital in San Jose del Monte, Bulacan, last April 19. 

The facts: The video is unclear about what it meant by “biggest hospital.” However, in terms of bed capacity, the soon-to-rise specialty hospital in Bulacan will not have the largest number of beds compared to other hospitals in the country.
The level 1 three-story hospital is set to have a 65-bed capacity. This is almost 65 times smaller than the bed capacity of the National Center for Mental Health in Mandaluyong City, which has a 4,200 bed capacity.

Biggest hospitals based on bed capacity: According to data extracted from the National Health Facility Registry, these are the top five biggest hospitals based on bed capacity: 

Addressing need for health facilities: Slated to be completed in 2025, the St. Bernadette Mother and Child Hospital will be equipped with key facilities such as an operating room, recovery room, maternity and isolation facilities, laboratory, imaging facility, and a pharmacy.

During the groundbreaking event, Marcos said the new hospital will aim to bring medical services closer to the people, especially for women and children.

“This is proof of the government’s dedication to protect the rights of everyone, especially women and our youth, through adequate and affordable health services,” he said in Filipino. He also said, “Through a community hospital, we can bring basic medical services closer to residents, and speed up response and treatment in times of need.

Missing context: The video also fails to provide context behind the construction of the new hospital, implying that the project was initiated by Marcos. 

While the groundbreaking ceremony was held this year under the Marcos administration, the law creating the hospital, Republic Act 11272, was signed in April 2019 by former president Rodrigo Duterte. Rappler has already fact-checked a video making this false claim. – Ailla Dela Cruz/Rappler.com

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