I REMEMBER as a kid until I was in grade school, my mum would always take me to Saint Jude Hospital whenever I got sick — which was often, picking me up from school and dropping me at the hospital for treatment. I often wondered why I was always ill, bothering me to no end, especially since my classmates were not confined as frequently as I was. I felt miserable thinking that I was unhealthy.
Sitting by the window, facing the crossing, looking at the huge home with thatched roofing which is now replaced by a store, gazing at the old men sitting idly by the bench, probably counting the few vehicles that plied by, I often felt forlorn as I shared the room with other patients. Those were days when the city was not congested, traffic was light, and people walked! Not that people do not walk anymore — they still do, but the streets are now full to the brim, and motorcycles driven by riders who think that they own the road, can knock you down anytime.
But going back, I also remember vividly how I got rid of my medicines by throwing them through the windowsill — the nurses would not know anyway — because I already felt like vomiting by just merely looking at them. Miraculously, even with the discarded medicines, I still got well, each time.
When I learned that the hospital closed, I felt a sense of loss, a pang of pain, because the hospital witnessed my young life, and in later years, my mother’s, and grandmother’s confinements as they approached the twilight of their respective lives.
Briefly, the Nazareno Clinic was set up in Calape, Bohol in 1960 by spouses, Drs. Domiciano and Amelia Mejia-Nazareno. I would say they were both visionaries. Then, Dr. Domiciano’s brother, Fr. Ranulfo Nazareno, urged the couple to move to the town of Tagbilaran where in 1963, they founded the Bohol Polyclinic along Borja Street right across the then-St. Joseph Academy that eventually became the Holy Spirit School. Two years later, construction of the three-story hospital on Libertad Street, presently, President Carlos P. Garcia Avenue, began.
On May 27, 1966 — hmm, interesting year 1966, the Bohol Saint Jude General Hospital was inaugurated. It is remarkable to note that the town of Tagbilaran became a chartered city on July 1, 1966. I told you 1966 is a historical year!
Since that year, “St. Jude” as we city folks and patients from the different towns fondly called the hospital, had served the health needs of the Boholano community. We could not overlook the impact that St. Jude had on Boholanos for more than half a century. St. Jude was at the frontier of the healthcare service then. I should know I was always there in my elementary grades.
The building prides itself on the soundness of its foundation, navigating numerous disasters like typhoon Nitang in 1984 and the 7.2-magnitude earthquake that hit Bohol on October 15, 2013.
In an article written by Dr. Mary Therese Nazareno-Arreza, the classic design was the output of a Manila-based architect who came to Bohol to prepare the building plans, as shared by their mother Dr. Amy. “The man was affiliated with an architectural firm that built the Cultural Center of the Philippines in Manila,” she added.
Arreza said in its early years, the third floor of the hospital used to be the family home. “Together with our cousins, the children of Drs. Manuel and Remedios Nazareno-Relampagos, we lived and grew up there.” Oh yes, I remember in some hospital confinements, I saw kids and teenagers climbing the spiral ramp by late afternoon as classes ended. I did not realize then that they lived there. What a revelation huh!
On the 50th charter day of Tagbilaran in 2016, the city awarded the Bohol Saint Jude General Hospital as one of seventeen establishments that had lasted for over fifty years. What a feat!
The hospital might have closed, but the closure did not deter me from writing this piece because, like all sentimental fools, memories always have a unique space in our hearts and minds, especially when engraved at a young impressionable age like mine.
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The writer hosts Woman Talk with Belinda Sales every Saturday, 10:00 a.m. at 91.1 Balita FM Tagbilaran City. She can also be reached at belindabelsales@gmail.com. X @ShilohRuthie./PN
