Time to Give Back

Rolando Lagutin has dedicated his career to improving the lives of his patients in the United States and in his Philippine hometown.

Affiliated with Parkridge Health System since 1980, Rolando Lagutin has used his surgical expertise to repair hernias and other gastrointestinal conditions that greatly reduce a person's quality of life. Lagutin works with David Redd, M.D., a general surgeon affiliated with Parkridge Health System who described Lagutin's presence in the operating room (OR) as, "like having two brains and four arms performing surgery."

Outside the OR, Lagutin's commitment to enhancing the lives of others can be traced far beyond the borders of the United States to his Philippine hometown of Mutia Zamboanga del Norte. Since arriving in the U.S. in 1978, Lagutin has tried to visit his homeland every two years, and recently, he took two of his eight grandchildren with him. The village they saw was a different place than when Lagutin grew up, and he contributed to many of the town's improvements.

"When I was growing up, I was fascinated by medicine and used to hang out in the local health centers," Lagutin said. "Many people in my village, including my family, were poor, and many people needed help. Dr. Kisou, who ran the facility, showed me that I could help by joining the medical field."

So, Lagutin earned a medical degree from Southwestern University in Cebu City, in the Philippines, and served a one-year internship at Cebu City Hospital. Before he could open his own practice, Lagutin fulfilled a governmental requirement by serving his country for six months at Clark Air Base, where he also completed an orthopedic residency.

Lagutin then joined his wife in the U.S., where he quickly saw a healthcare industry that benefitted from a much different economic situation -- a difference highlighted by a visit home and a meeting with a friend who worked at Zamboanga del Norte Cooperative Hospital.

"I saw their instruments and thought: How do they manage to operate," Lagutin recalled. "I was used to our brand-new instrumentation. He started listing the things they needed, and I took notes. When I returned, I looked for ways to send supplies back to the Philippines."

Lagutin and his friend were in luck: Parkridge had recently purchased new OR instruments. Parkridge administration gladly donated the old instruments to Lagutin.

"I shipped the supplies back home and outfitted six hospital rooms," Lagutin said. "In America, equipment like that often winds up in the junkyard - even though there's nothing wrong with it. But, I ship supplies to the Philippines, and they use them all the time."

Lagutin's philanthropic efforts became well known around Parkridge, and soon the size and scope of his shipments grew. Over the years, Lagutin has shipped a long list of items, including gloves, sutures, vials, test tubes, vitamin and medication samples, laboratory centrifuges, baby formula, and towels. Notably, Parkridge donated anesthesia equipment that continues to serve people of Mutia, Zamboanga del Norte nearly 20 years later.

Such donations not only equip hospitals to deliver higher levels of healthcare, but they also help people afford treatments that are thought to be standard in the U.S., Lagutin explained. Most people in Lagutin's hometown are not covered by insurance.

"If you get a cut on your hand, you go to the ER and are prescribed sutures," Lagutin said. "You then go to the pharmacy and buy the sutures before the doctor stitches you up. Because we ship these items, people no longer have to pay for them."

With His Own Two Hands

Each time he returns home, Lagutin sets aside one day to conduct a free clinic and one day to perform surgeries at the local hospital. Approximately 300 people lined up for the last clinic, where Lagutin did everything from treating hypertension to performing circumcisions. Two of his grandchildren were present to help manage the crowd and provide water. At such clinics, Lagutin frequently treats the last patient of the day around midnight.

Helping Future Generations

Until recently, his home province had no facility dedicated to childbirth. Seeing the community's need, Lagutin set about raising money. After seven years of fundraising events, donations from friends like Dr. Redd and a contribution from the local Philippine government, Lagutin travelled home to open a four-room birthing center in his hometown. He and his family even added the finishing touches themselves.

"My entire family went with me to open the birthing center," Lagutin said. "But when we arrived, the building wasn't complete. We finished painting the building - my son-in-law is crazy about the University of Tennessee, so we painted it orange. More than 5,000 babies have been delivered there since it opened."

More Time

Lagutin semi-retired from medical practice last year, although he continues to join Dr. Redd in the OR. He looks forward to traveling with his family in a recently purchased RV that sleeps 12. He continues to send supplies to the Philippines and looks forward to sharing more moments like the one he experienced when opening the birthing center with his children and grandchildren.

Lagutin exemplifies the mission that unites the Parkridge Health System family of hospitals: "Above all else, we are committed to the care and improvement of human life."