CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga — Overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and their families now have wider access to specialized healthcare as the OFW Hospital in Pampanga expands its facilities, diagnostic capabilities, and preventive health services while continuing to provide zero-billing care to qualified beneficiaries.
This comes as the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) opened additional facilities and medical equipment at the hospital, including a tuberculosis clinic, animal bite center, expanded radiology department, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), mammography, and computed tomography (CT) scan machines.
The expansion strengthens the hospital’s capacity to provide healthcare services beyond basic treatment, allowing patients to undergo more diagnostic procedures and access specialized care in one facility.
The OFW Hospital, which has evolved from an infirmary into a Level 2 hospital, now has more than 72 beds for OFWs requiring inpatient care. Its diagnostic services include MRI, mammography, CT scan, ultrasound, X-ray, and fluoroscopy.
In 2025, the hospital served about 154,000 OFWs and their dependents, including their parents and children.
For DMW Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac, the development represents a shift in how healthcare is delivered to migrant workers from responding to illness toward preventing and detecting diseases at an earlier stage.
“Our growing pains are over. We are shifting our health framework from reactive care to proactive protection. A healthy OFW begins with strong preventive care and extends to comprehensive medical support for their families,” he noted.
The expanded medical capacity is complemented by the hospital’s zero-billing policy for qualified OFWs and their dependents.
Covered services include consultations, diagnostic procedures, available medicines from the hospital pharmacy, and emergency room services.
For former OFW Edgardo Estrada Valencia, 71, the policy means one less financial burden for families seeking medical care.
Valencia, who worked in Riyadh for 36 years, is among the patients currently receiving services at the hospital.
“Pumunta kami sa OFW Hospital for treatment.. And from there on, talagang bilib ako sa policy and recording ng OFW Hospital. We were treated well. Mababait lahat from the utility RO the security, the nurses and doctors. All attentive. Ang maganda dito, you only spend your time pero you do not spend money…Kasi lahat is free…thank you, ” Valencia’s wife said on his behalf.
During a visit, Cacdac personally met Valencia, as well as pregnant women, newborns, and other patients receiving medical and maternity care.
Cacdac said the hospital’s services are intended to ensure that OFWs, whom he described as the country’s modern-day heroes, can receive medical care without the burden of hospital bills.
“Sa ating mga bagong bayani, para sa inyo ang OFW Hospital na ito at lahat ng serbisyo nito—libre. Zero billing,” he said.
Beyond its current services, the DMW also shared that it is coordinating with the Department of Health for a possible partnership in the operation of a planned Cancer Care Center, which could further broaden the hospital’s capacity to provide specialized care.
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