GT Foundation – Health
Enabling access to quality health care among the poor is one of the earliest philanthropic undertakings of Dr. George S.K. Ty, which is manifested in the acquisition of the Manila Doctors Hospital by Metrobank Foundation in 1979. GT Foundation, Inc. (GTFI) carries on this advocacy through the GT-REACH priority health initiatives.
GTFI partners with the Manila Doctors Hospital, Tebow CURE Hospital, and other non-government organizations for surgical missions intended for patients with cleft lip and palate, club foot, and cataract, among others.
Eye wellness advocacy through the Salamin sa Maliwanag na Bukas (Eyeglasses for a Bright Future)
GTFI conducts eye screening missions for public school children and indigent adults and elderly as a way of helping improve their academic performance and enhance their productivity, respectively.
The Salamin sa Maliwanag na Bukas is currently implemented in partnership with the associations of past winners of the Metrobank Foundation Outstanding Filipinos—namely, The Organization of Philippine Soldiers with Outstanding Leadership, Dedication, Initiative, Excellence and Responsibility to Society (TOPSOLDIERS) and the Police Officers Responsible for Organizing, Transforming and Empowering of Communities (PROTECT).
Since 2010, GTFI has distributed more than 16,000 reading eyeglasses for adults and elderly and around 1,500 prescription glasses to public school children.
Access to healthcare services through the enrolment of the poor in the national health insurance program and the conduct of medical missions
To contribute to the achievement of universal health care, GTFI implemented the Health Equity through Access to Life Services (HEALS) – PhilHealth Para Sa Pasay program in 2012 to facilitate the membership of 368 tricycle drivers considered as workers in the informal sector to the PhilHealth program. Aside from sponsoring their premium payments, GTFI partnered with PAMBOKOOP, PhilHealth and the Pasay City Government to overcome various hurdles to health insurance access such as documentation, awareness, and willingness to take part in the program.
Subsequently, GTFI partnered with Project LAAN, Inc. a student-led organization that uses innovation and entrepreneurship for better health outcomes, to help enrol more than 120 families in Calawis, Antipolo to PhilHealth, as well as conduct health lectures on benefits availment, health governance, and leadership.
Construction, rehabilitation and equipping of health facilities
The massive destruction caused by Typhoon Haiyan in the Visayas disrupted the delivery of basic services such as health, which had repercussions on the gains that have been attained in improving maternal and child health. GTFI partnered with Plan International – Philippines for the construction of community health stations with birthing facilities in Palo, Leyte; and Guiuan and Mercedes, Eastern Samar.
In addition to the health stations, GTFI awarded a grant to the Philippine Tuberculosis Society, Inc. to help rehabilitate the Eastern Visayas Chest Clinic and Dispensary in Tacloban City.
Previously, GTFI helped build the St. Therese of the Child Jesus Parish Satellite Clinic and Pharmacy in Miarayon, Bukidnon that caters to the indigenous people of the Talaandig tribe.
Health grants focused on maternal and child care
GTFI provides grants to qualified non-government organizations and health institutions that carry out development interventions in the following priority areas:
- Maternal Health – construction or rehabilitation and equipping of new barangay health stations in geographically-isolated and disadvantaged areas (GIDA)
- Medical Missions
- Mobile Clinics
- Assistant to Public Health Facilities
- Training for Health Care Providers on Maternal and Child Health Care Services
- Nutrition
