Healthway Daniel O. Mercado Medical Center

Mercado General Hospital, Inc. (MGHI) had its humble beginnings in 1957 as a 12-bed lying-in
clinic then known as the Mercado Clinic. Its founder, Dr. Daniel O. Mercado, after finishing his
internship at the Baltimore Casualty Hospital in Washington, D.C., decided to come back to his
hometown in Tanauan, Batangas, to provide healthcare services to his town mates.
MGHI, which operates various healthcare facilities under the QualiMed Health Network, has
since grown to become one of the up-and-coming medical and healthcare service providers in
the Philippines. The 12-bed lying-in Mercado Clinic is now a 145-bed level 4 tertiary hospital
(inclusive of 15 critical-care beds) known as the Daniel O. Mercado Medical Center (DMMC).
DMMC is one of the first hospitals in the country to be recognized as a Company of Excellence by
the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth). MGHI, operating under the trade name
of DMMC, is the proud parent company of the QualiMed Health Network.
MGHI also owns and operates the QualiMed Surgery Center in Manila (formerly University
Physicians Medical Center) through its subsidiary, Mercado Ambulatory Surgical Centers, Inc.
QualiMed Surgery Center in Manila is the first day surgery center of its kind in the Philippines. It
is situated at the Faculty Medical Arts Building inside the University of the Philippines ManilaPhilippine General Hospital compound in Taft Avenue, Manila. It opened in September 2010 and,
despite its start-up status, was able to reach profitability by November 2011. Its medical staff
complement is composed solely of faculty members of the University of the Philippines College
of Medicine.
On November 11, 2011, MGHI entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with a group of
doctors in Iloilo City under the banner of Panay Medical Ventures, Inc. (PMVI) to establish a
specialty hospital in Iloilo City. The agreement called for MGHI to acquire a majority interest in
PMVI, which would operate under the trade name QualiMed Hospital. QualiMed Hospital would
then, in turn, house a women’s and children’s hospital and a day surgery center within its facility,
providing a much-needed infusion of advanced healthcare delivery services for its trade area,
which not only includes Iloilo City but also the entire island of Panay. The facility opened in
November 2014 and is set to expand to a 250-bed hospital.
MGHI also owns a majority of the shares in DMMC Institute of Health Sciences, which operates a
tertiary-level educational institution offering degrees in allied healthcare professions. It was set
up for the purpose of providing a steady supply of medical professionals to MGHI and its
healthcare institutions. This is a critical task particularly in light of periodic shortages of medical
professionals in the areas of medical technology, radiologic technology, and biomedical
technology.
In June 2013, the majority shareholders of MGHI signed an agreement with Ayala Land, Inc. (ALI)
for the latter to acquire WhiteKnight Holdings, Inc. (WHI), a holding company of the majority
shareholders of MGHI. WHI then owned a 33% ownership interest in MGHI. This was
consummated in November 2013 which effectively made MGHI a part of the Ayala group of
companies.
The opening of the QualiMed Clinic in TriNoma Mall in Quezon City in February 2014 marked the
first milestone of MGHI’s partnership with ALI. It was followed by the opening of QualiMed
Surgery Center in Fairview Terraces, also in Quezon City in July 2014, and the opening of
QualiMed Hospital in Iloilo in November 2014. These were followed by the opening of QualiMed
Clinics in Makati in December 2014, UP Town Center in May 2015, BGC in December 2016 and
Cebu in February 2017 then two other hospitals, QualiMed Hospital in Altaraza Town Company,
San Jose Del Monte, Bulacan in May 2016 and QualiMed Hospital in NUVALI, Sta. Rosa, Laguna in
July 2017.
With over 60 years of experience in healthcare delivery management, MGHI continues to seek
opportunities and ways to reduce the cost of healthcare in the Philippines. Its entrepreneurial
yet disciplined culture has been instrumental in finding innovative ways to cut waste, build
operational efficiencies, and institute fiscal controls, without compromising the quality of the
healthcare it delivers.
MGHI prides itself as a doctor-driven and professionally managed company. These are the
qualities by which MGHI stands for in its quest to make quality healthcare accessible to more and
more Filipinos, regardless of socioeconomic status