Hello, I'm moving to Dumaguete tomorrow. I think I lucked out in Pampanga, I found a good GP right next to a lab. He ran his practice out of a small storefront, no crowds, I never had to wait more than 15 minutes to see him. He took time with me, was thorough and personable. If I needed a lab test, I walked right next door. Anyone have any experience with such a doctor/lab combo in Dumaguete?
I use Dr. Johnny Yee whose office is on the ground floor, opposite the eye clinic, at Holy Child hospital. He is the closest I have found to the type of GP/Family Doctor that you are used to. Straight talking, no BS, thorough and explains everything. If he wants you to take any tests, these can be done at the lab down the corridor. Consultancy is just 100 peso per visit. I know that numerous other expats use him, as they have found in him the same qualities that I have.
Right now, all I know is I am fed up with Silliman Medical Center AND the docs there. The charges are getting really, really outrageous...my do vist went from 250Php to 600 Php....from, with a/c...2,500Php. CRAZY! How is Holy Child??? When I first came here in 2006 , all the expats were putting Holy Child 'down'....how is their equipment....reasonably new?? SMC iswas still old and outdated the last time I was there in 2002.
Update: Visited Dr. Yee at Holy Child. First thing I noticed was his truncated clinic schedule at Holy Child. He's there 2pm-5pm weekdays, with some hours on Saturdays. He has a second clinic, but I do not know where. Once there, I was seen quickly. He was very personable, amiable, quiet-spoken. Listened to me and ordered general lab tests to check all the basic functions. I told him I hadn't had a general physical exam in over a few years, but he did not want to do one at that time (I found that a bit odd). His consultation fee was 100 pesos. I carried out some of the lab tests and took the results back to him the following Saturday. He was scheduled to be there at 9AM but his receptionist told us he was working a half-day that day, he would return near 10:30. So I had to go out and about for an hour or so, no big deal. On my return, I waited about ten minutes before I was seen. He reviewed the lab results and made some recommendations. Again, 100 pesos only. I have a follow up with him next week. So far so good, but I have no real health issues and so I feel that any doctor could have helped me as adequately in my case. Therefore from my perspective what I appreciate most about him is his personality, his listening skills, the friendliness of his office staff, and that I am not getting raked over the coals in fees for these routine visits. About Holy Child (to everyone but pointed mostly to Don's question), there is every conceivable kind of doctor there as far as I could tell, a full lab on site. The lab process was simple, I took my lab orders from the doctor's office to the lab. They told me I had to pay first. So I went to the business office just 20 feet down the hallway and paid for the tests. They stamped my copy of the lab order which then served as my order and receipt. I took that to the lab and they picked it up from there. On my visit there was nobody ahead of me in the lab, I was taken right away. The longest line and highest waiting time in my process was at the business office. Two windows open, there were five or so people ahead of me, I had to wait 15 minutes there. Also, something that always bugged me is a two or more window system that works in a way that sometimes latecomers end up served before those who had already been waiting for a while. ------------------ At the eye clinic there, my girlfriend asked the cost of an exam and consult and she was told 400 pesos. When all was finished, she was asked for 450 pesos, something or other about the cost for the refractive exam. She refused to pay the extra 50 (good for her), reasoning that the receptionist should have specified when she was asked. --------------------- All I can suggest is that you not assume any doctor there has a 9-5 kind of schedule. Sometimes there are no clinic hours or contact numbers posted at each doctor's office. Sometimes several doctors time-share the same office. All in all my experience to date at Holy Child and with Dr. Johnny Yee in particular has been very limited but very satisfactory!
Thanks for the review, it's chance enough of getting good care even back in the "Homelamd." We've had the most interactions wirh SUMC, from great to the dreadful.
I originally went to another Dr in H/child, he charged me foreigner tax at first visit p500 look at test results p300, my asawa took her sister to Dr lee as per previous post p100, so next time I required a Dr I gave Dr Lee a try, yep no foreigner tax and good Dr, I told him as he did not charge Foreigner tax I would come back and recommend him.
Sometimes I'm not sure if I'm getting charged a Foreigner tax. For example, I had a girlfriend in San Fernando, Pampanga and when she went on her own for a consult, sometimes she was charged 300p or 500p, depending on the doctor. With Dr. Yee, however, I'm sure I'm not getting charged a skin tax on *consults* anyway !
