Hospital San Juan De Dios - Pasay City, Philippines

The San Juan De Dios EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION, INCORPORATED (Hospital), formerly HOSPITAL DE SAN JUAN DE DIOS, is the oldest hospital in the Philippines. The Hospital started when the Franciscan missionaries arrived in the country on June 24, 1578. Among them was a lay brother, Fray Juan Clemente who despite of his difficulty in learning the language of the natives devotedly studied the medicinal value of tropical plants in curing diseases of the sick and the poor. Consequently, the Franciscan porteria in Intramuros was converted into a dispensary. Later that year, Fray Juan Clemente built a nipa hut and bamboo hospital with two wards of 300 square meters each. Another ward was added when Fray Juan Fernandez de Leon arrived in 1590. He became the first hospital chaplain.