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Dr. Jose Fores
Even before he went on to become a member of the Makati Medical Center’s founding group, Dr. Jose Y. Fores had already distinguished himself as a respected surgeon, medical professor, and hospital administrator.
He was a trailblazer in surgery. At a time when very few doctors ventured into gastric and pancreatic surgeries, he promptly took the first difficult steps, showing his colleagues that the Filipino surgeon was ready to undertake challenging procedures, which were at that time ultra-modern.
He was also a committed scientist and teacher. As a professor of surgery at the University of Santo Tomas Medical School and Hospital, he selflessly shared his knowledge with scores of students. Even with his colleagues, he was never miserly with knowledge: He never kept his style secret; he allowed his students to observe him as he performed operations.
Of the founders, Dr. Fores was the veteran hospital administrator. At 36, ten years after he joined St. Luke’s Hospital as a resident, he was named its medical director and went on to become the first Filipino to be elected to the St. Luke’s Board of Governors.
To him, more than anyone else, goes the credit of transferring St. Luke’s from its humble location at Calle Magdalena to its present location at Cathedral Heights in Quezon City, where that hospital had the space to grow.
Later, he went on to become one of the founders of the Manila Doctors’ Hospital and, finally, he joined the group who founded the Makati Medical Center. Time passed and Dr. Fores also founded the Philippine Hospital Association, capping his achievements as a hospital administrator.
More than anything else, however, Dr. Fores was a surgeon par excellence. Until today, his skills at the operating room remain legend. They continue to inspire the many doctors he trained—many of whom went on to become famous and respected surgeons in their own right. Speed with finesse. Firm decision-making. Excellent results. Dr Fores embodied these qualities as a surgeon.
Despite his remarkable surgical skills, he offered his services equally to those who could afford to pay—and to those who could not. Religion, race, skin color, standing in life—none of these ever clouded his decision to save a life.
As a fitting tribute to his numerous contributions to surgery, the Makati Med Operating Room was renamed the J.Y. Fores Surgical Pavilion, in simple rites held on November 14, 1979.
TWENTY years after the great surgeon journeyed on to meet his Creator, his trailblazing tradition lives on. Makati Med’s operating room has since become the place where new technologies and pioneering procedures were undertaken:
- Laparoscopic laser surgery is done daily by general surgeons and gynecologists.
- Coronary artery bypass grafts are performed by the Surgery Department.
- Arthroscopic knee surgery, total knee and hip replacements are now common orthopedic procedures.
- Kidney and various other organ transplants are successfully performed regularly.
- Craniotomies are often undertaken.
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