Breathing Camillian air in the Lung Center

In the late 90’s the Camillians started to extend their presence to one of the premier and specialty hospitals in the Philippines – the Lung Center of the Philippines (LCP). Upon special requests by the hospital’s Pastoral Committee, the Camillians began visiting the institution, which lies nestled in a 12-hectare lot at the end of Quezon Avenue near the Elliptical Circle in Quezon City.

Established in January 1982, LCP is a semi-government tertiary specialty hospital that makes waves in treating, managing, and in the research and education on respiratory diseases.  Unfortunately, LCP ran into an enormous crisis in May 1998 when almost half of the hospital building was razed by fire. Undaunted by the adversity, the Lung Center strived even harder to live out its commitment to help improve the quality of life of the Filipino people. Thus, as it celebrates its 27th anniversary this month, LCP remains steadfast in realizing its vision to be “the premier institution for lung and other chest diseases, providing quality health care through excellent service, training and research.”

And the Camillians share LCP’s interminable desire to be significant in the lives of the Filipinos, especially the sick. Commissioned by the hospital administration to take charge of its Pastoral Care Services in 2004, the Camillians, with humble hearts, are now incessantly carrying out their mission of witnessing to the ever-present love of Christ for the sick in LCP.

Currently at the helm of LCP’s Chaplaincy Office is Fr. Boy S. Guinit, MI. A former chaplain of Davao Medical Center in Davao City, he has been engaged in this ministry since August 2007. At the same time he carries out the other responsibility of being assistant director of the St. Camillus Scholasticate

Even with his considerable years of experience in pastoral care in medical institutions, Fr. Boy continues to find journeying with the sick a challenging and inspiring undertaking. As he tries his best to make a difference in his present assignment, he gladly declares that he is happy carrying out his Camillian ministry in LCP.  Human as he is though, there are times when he would reflect and say: “I don’t know if my presence [in LCP] really has an impact.”

“I see his importance here,” Communication Section Head and long time chairperson of the Pastoral Committee Alice M. Manalo says of Fr. Boy. “The presence of a Camillian priest creates a different atmosphere in the hospital. It reinforces the balance between the physical and spiritual care given to the patients,” she adds.

Nursing Department Manager Elvira N. Baura, RN, MAN, also has this to say: “We really have to be holistic in our approach in managing the treatment of the sick. It must not only be physical but also spiritual. The spiritual is the most important but is also the most neglected.”  She added that “we nurses are trained and educated to be holistic in delivering our services to the patients but there are really only a few nurses who can attend to the patients’ spiritual needs. “So we really need to have a priest in our hospital to respond to the spiritual needs of our patients. It’s different if they see a priest. His presence is really relevant here,” she concludes.

In moments when Fr. Boy is at the bedside of the sick, he feels a kind of contentment with the thought that, aside from administering the sacraments, he also becomes instrumental in enabling the patients to voice out their anxieties and fears. “They need someone they can talk to and who will listen and understand them,” relates the Chaplain with pleasure.

Fr. Boy, by the way, is also thankful for the presence of the Camillian Scholastics who assist him in visiting the sick in LCP.  They multiply the Camillian presence there.

True enough, patients and watchers who are visited by the temporarily professed Camillian religious acknowledge the positive effects they gain from those visitations.

Deo, 40, a lung cancer patient, says: “It helps me to gain peace of mind. I also like it because they talk to my family as well.”

Mark Niel, 26, who also suffers from a chest ailment, has a similar experience. “I feel light whenever they pray over me. It’s a big help for me because, since I cannot go to the Chapel, they let me receive Holy Communion here in my room. They also share with me the Gospel of the day. These give me strength and I become hopeful for my recovery. There is nothing like this in other hospitals I’ve been to.”

Another source of Fr. Boy’s inspiration is the other “minor things” which he is able to do in LCP. “I help settle some conflicts between employees and am able to bring them toward mutual forgiveness and reconciliation,” he says.

There’s definitely a whiff of Camillian air in the Lung Center.  Would that it were truly healing to all who breathe it.