Arrival of Protestantism and founding of the hospital (1900-1909) When the
Philippines was ceded by
Spain in 1898 to the
United States thought the
Treaty of Paris (1898), the country was opened to
Protestantism, a new faith brought by the
Americans. One of the early
Protestant sects that came to the Philippines islands were the
Presbyterians. When the Presbyterian Americans came to the Philippines, they were allowed to enter various locations in the islands to do their mission works.
Iloilo became the very first place where they set foot because of its prominence, being the second most important city after
Manilla in the socio-economic sector as a result of the sugar industry boom when its port was opened to the international trade and commerce. On February 13, 1900, the Philippine islands opened up to the
American Protestant missions. Joseph Andrew Hall, an
American missionary doctor with his wife Jean Russell Hall, working under auspices of the Presbyterian Church in the
United States, saw the need for opening a mission hospital in Iloilo. In 1901, they erected a temporary eight-bed nipa and bamboo structure clinic at Calle Amparo (now Ledesma Street). The clinic-dispensary hospital served as a venue for health care to the very poor in the surrounding community under the help of the
Presbyterian Foreign Mission Board in the
United States. With the Baptists long association with the Presbyterians in the running of the hospital, the latter (Presbyterians) turned over the entire medical work to the Baptist Mission Society through Dr. Raphael Thomas. Dr. Joseph Andrew Hall was relocated after the said succession by the Presbyterian Mission to establish the Bethany Hospital and Training School in
Tacloban City,
Leyte. In the same year after the hospital was turned over to the Baptists, they continued running the hospital and the ministries that were already ongoing after the Presbyterians left to focus for their outreach in
Eastern Visayas. In 1926, Rose Nicolet retired as superintendent of nurses and principal of the nursing school. Her said held positions were later replaced by Hazel O. Mann, a
Canadian missionary nurse with the
Baptist Mission, while Flora G. Ernst who came from the
American Baptist Mission Society, USA, came as her assistant. It was their exceptional executive ability that the training school for nurses expanded as years went by. No school fees were charged on students during Hazel Mann's principalship while they were given books, uniforms and a nurses obstetrical kit after graduation. By 1929, nursing became an accepted profession. Students no longer had to be forced to join. As many students wanted to become nurses, entrance requirements were imposed. Those who completed high school were preferred. From this time to the 1940s the students paid only 40.00 Philippine peso for their textbooks and for the three-year training period. A new foundation of the Union Mission Hospital was set in 1929. The hospital needed for a new site and a bigger hospital became evident. Dr. Dwight L. Johnson, the Canadian director of the hospital at that time, started a fund campaign to meet this need. The plan gained support from civic-spirited notable Ilonggos in the community of Iloilo like Julian Go and the
Lopez family, the hospital and nursing staff, and the
American Baptist Foreign Mission Society, which raised an amount needed for the hospital's new site and building. In the same year, the foundation for the 120-bed, concrete hospital was laid in the property the hospital bought at Mission Road (
City of Jaro), a present-day district of
Iloilo City). Dr. Dwight Johnson was given credit for the planning and construction of Union Mission Hospital's new site and structure. On September 19, 1931, the Union Mission Hospital started admitting and treating patients in its present location on Mission Road. The hospital plant occupied a lot 29,283 meters or approximately 3 hectares in area. On October 21, 1931 became a joyous day. The new relocated hospital was dedicated with its founder, Dr. Joseph Andrew Hall came all the way from
Tacloban City,
Leyte, as the guest of honor on the said momentous occasion. Dr. Precy Grigg lost no time in developing the new hospital's buildings and its surroundings. On what used to be a deep rice field and swampy place was a green lawn and rose garden surrounding the new imposing and neat-looking concrete hospital. After office hours, Dr. Grigg loved to work on landscaping the surroundings with plants secured from the islands of Negros and Panay.
Renaming of hospital, expansion and filipinization (1932-1937) On March 5, 1932, Union Mission Hospital (UMH) became the
Iloilo Mission Hospital (IMH). Likewise the training school was renamed Iloilo Mission Hospital Training School for Nurses (IMHTSN). The hospital onwards continued to grow. It drew students from many parts of the Philippine islands who came to apply for admission to the training school for nurses. On March 22, 1932, Loreto D. Tupaz, together with her eight other classmates graduated while her as a class valedictorian. She was awarded the
"Alumni Efficiency Medal". As a student she had demonstrated leadership and the hospital promptly employed her as clinic nurse and supervisor. During the latter part of 1932, Flora Ernst was reassigned to the Capiz Emmanuel Hospital in
Roxas City,
Capiz to replace Jennie Adams, a registered nurse, who went on a furlough for a year. Dorothy Stevens became the acting superintendent and principal of the Iloilo Mission Hospital Training School for Nurses. Loreto Tupaz became a full-time classroom instructor at the training school. In 1934 many changers took place in the organizational set-up of the new hospital. Dr. Grigg married Pauline Holland, the niece of C.N. Hodges, a prominent American business tycoon in city of Iloilo during that time. The couple moved back to the
United States after their wedding. Dr. Grigg's departure meant a vacancy in the hospital and Dr. Cornelio T. Blancaflor had to manage the hospital as acting hospital director and also as chairman for Board of Control. For six months, Dr. Frederic W. Meyer, who was a director of Capiz Emmanuel Hospital in Capiz, came to Iloilo every week to see and treat patients at the Iloilo Mission Hospital. He want home to
Capiz on weekends to be with his family. In October 1934, Dr. and Mrs. Henry W. Waters arrived in Iloilo City. The couple won the hearts of many patients and friends in the hospital and the community. Mrs. Anna Waters, being a nurse, helped in the teaching program of the school and at the same time took an active part in the Hospital Ladies Auxiliary activities. A noteworthy addition to the services of the Iloilo Mission Hospital by that time was the Tuberculosis Pavilion in March 1935. The building begun with funds raised in 1910. The funds generally grew until it was large enough to put up a cottage suitable for the needs of TB patients. This additional service department augmented the learning experiences of the nursing students. It was also in the same year, according to the Iloilo Mission Hospital Training School for Nurses school records, that high school graduates with an average of 80% were given preference for admission to the said school. In 1937, the move for the
Filipinization of Iloilo Mission Hospital yielded for the institution to appoint its first Filipino hospital director, Dr. Lorenzo Porras while Rosa Hofilena became the acting superintendent of nurses and at the same time as an operating room nurse supervisor. Flora Ernst was given the post Technical Adviser of Nursing Services. Dr. Henry Waters and another medical missionary doctor,
Dorothy K. Chambers were given the titles Associate Physicians. In the early part of 1939, Rosa Hofilena resigned, and Flora Ernst was recalled to become superintendent of nurses again. In 1937 Loreto Tupaz was appointed full-time principal of the training school. With Flora Ernst as full-time superintendent of nurses in the hospital and Tupaz in the training school for nurses, the running of both hospital and training school was in capable and dedicated hands. The hospital was run by the American Protestants from its foundation in 1906 until the late 1940s. The last American director of the hospital was Henry S. Waters from 1934 to 1948.
World War II and post-war reconstruction , founded through a benevolent grant by the
American business magnate
John D. Rockefeller as the first Baptist and second American founded university in the Philippines and in Asia, is Iloilo Mission Hospital's affiliated university.
World War II broke out with much damage in the hospital facilities but later when the war ended in 1946–47, Dr. Henry S. Waters, the postwar director of Hospital and also principal of the Iloilo Mission Hospital School of Nursing in 1946–1947, pressed for the offering, with Central Philippine College (the forerunner of Central Philippine University), a collegiate course leading to the Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree. The director of the Bureau of Private Schools and the members of the board of examiners for nurses authorized the opening of the Bachelor of Science in Nursing four-year course in 1947 that resulted the school's operation transferred to the college. Waters served as acting dean of the new College of Nursing at Central Philippine College (1947–1948). When he returned to the United States, Dr. Teofilo Marte served as the executive secretary (1948–1949). Loreto D. Tupaz was the acting dean from 1949 to 1950 and served in this capacity until the arrival of Esther Salzman who held the deanship from 1950 to 1961. During her term, the college offered three curricular programs: the
Bachelor of Science in Nursing four-year course, the GN-
Bachelor of Science in Nursing Supplemental Course and the
Bachelor of Science in Nursing five-year course. Tupaz and Salzman worked together to develop
Central Philippine University College of Nursing into a college of distinction, recognized both in the Philippines and abroad. Salzman served as dean until 1961 when she retired in the United States. Lily Plagata was appointed to the deanship in 1961, but resigned and went abroad in 1963. Carmen Centeno replaced Plagata as dean for the rest of 1963, but she also eventually left for the United States. Tupaz resumed the deanship from 1963 until 1970, but also continued to administer the three course programs of the college, the
Bachelor of Science in Nursing five-year course, the CCT (Clinical Teaching) course, and the
Bachelor of Science in Nursing Supplemental Course.
Centennial and recent history In 2001, the hospital celebrated its centennial with year long activities. A four-story Centennial Building was also inaugurated that year. in 2004, Iloilo Mission Hospital acquired the
Philips MX8000 CT Scan machine, the
first of its kind in South East Asia. In 2006, the
Central Philippine University College of Nursing celebrated also its centennial as the first nursing school in the Philippines with its history that spans for a century of its existence since it was founded or established by the Protestant Presbyterian Americans as the Union Mission Hospital Training School for Nurses. In 2007, the old Nurses' Home was demolished to give way to the new Medical Arts Building. The building was completed and inaugurated in 2009. Recent expansion plans include a 7-storey modern designed Iloilo Mission Hospital Medical Center (IMH Medical Center) equipped with state-of-the-art facilities. At present, Iloilo Mission Hospital maintains an affiliation and linkage with the
Convention of Philippine Baptist Churches but it is independent and non-sectarian. It also serves as the affiliated university medical center and healthcare provider of
Central Philippine University, in which its board of trustees and administration are largely composed of members from the university's board of trustees and corporation. ==Historic firsts==