An New RMCI CathLab Milestone to Remember
On August 31, 2026, Rivera Medical Center, Inc. (RMCI) reached another significant milestone in its continuing journey of service: the hospital welcomed the 500th patient to undergo services at its Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory, or Cath Lab.
Within its first 15 months of operation, the RMCI Cath Lab has already served more than 500 patients—men and women who came through its doors for diagnostic procedures, planned interventions, and, in some cases, life-saving emergency care.
For RMCI, however, the number represents far more than institutional growth. It represents 500 people. Five hundred families. Five hundred stories of fear, hope, courage, prayer, and trust.
And it is a milestone made even more meaningful when viewed against the humble beginnings of the hospital itself.
From a Small Clinic to Advanced Medical Care
In 1961, when Panabo was still a small municipality, Dr. Emilio B. Rivera established what was then known as Sacred Heart Clinic.
It was a modest healthcare facility created to serve the medical needs of the growing community. At the time, the level of specialized medicine available today would have seemed distant. Yet the principles upon which that small clinic was founded—service, compassion, perseverance, and faith—would continue to shape the institution for generations.
Decades later, that small clinic became Rivera Medical Center, Inc.
By 2025, RMCI had grown into a hospital capable of providing advanced cardiovascular procedures through its own Cath Lab. As of this writing, RMCI remains the only hospital in Davao del Norte equipped with a Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory.
The contrast is remarkable: from a small clinic in a developing municipality in 1961 to a hospital performing highly specialized cardiovascular interventions for patients across Davao del Norte and neighboring communities.
A New Chapter Begins
RMCI conducted the soft launch of its Cath Lab on June 13, 2025. That day immediately became part of the hospital’s history.
Interventional cardiologists Dr. Dan Brian P. Galang and Dr. Rafael A. Tagayuna performed the first successful coronary angioplasty at RMCI and the first such procedure performed in Davao del Norte.
It was more than the opening of another hospital department. It meant that patients requiring certain advanced heart procedures could now receive treatment closer to home instead of automatically traveling to larger medical centers outside the province.
On August 20, 2025, RMCI formally inaugurated the Cath Lab.
The facility represented the fulfillment of a vision of Dr. Ramon Meliton Rivera, who dreamed of advancing the capabilities of the hospital while honoring the legacy of his late father, Dr. Emilio B. Rivera.
Listen to Dr. Ramon Meliton Rivera’s exhortation on RMCI’s mission and vision.
What began with one physician’s desire to serve a small community had now grown into a center capable of treating complex cardiovascular conditions using modern interventional technology.
Read about RMCI’s launch of the first Cath Lab in Davao del Norte
A Year of Medical Milestones
Under the leadership of RMCI’s new Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Ramon Montaña Rivera, the Cath Lab and its medical teams continued to expand the range of procedures available in Davao del Norte.
Several historic milestones soon followed
On August 9, 2025, RMCI performed the first IVC filter insertion in Davao del Norte, providing another important treatment option for patients at risk of serious blood clots.
What is is an IVC Filter Insertion?
On March 28, 2026, the hospital performed the first Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography or ERCP procedure in Panabo City, expanding access to advanced diagnostic and therapeutic procedures for conditions involving the bile ducts and pancreas.
On April 21, 2026, RMCI recorded the first-ever Rotablation procedure in Davao del Norte, an advanced technique used in treating heavily calcified coronary artery blockages.
This was followed on May 15, 2026 by the province’s first venogram and endovascular angioplasty.
On July 10, 2026, RMCI successfully performed the first Cerebral Angiogram procedure in Davao del Norte, marking another expansion of the hospital’s capabilities beyond cardiac intervention.
Then, on August 3, 2026, RMCI achieved another major milestone with the first documented successful coronary Intravascular Lithotripsy, or IVL, procedure in Mindanao.
Each accomplishment represented another step toward bringing advanced medical care closer to patients and families in the region.
But behind every milestone and every medical term is a human life.
See RMCI’s timeline of key events.
Behind the Number 500
For us, this simply means five hundred patients have now entrusted their hearts, their health, and sometimes their lives to RMCI.
These patients came at very different moments.
Some arrived for scheduled diagnostic procedures. Some had time to prepare themselves and their families for treatment.
Others arrived when there was almost no time to spare.
Behind each patient was a spouse, a child, a parent, a sibling, or a friend hoping and praying that the person they loved would still be able to come home.
Unique struggles and joys in every Cath Lab case
Not every story ended the way everyone prayed it would. But each patient and their families remain part of RMCI’s story as well.
Despite the struggles, many others were given something extraordinarily precious:
More time.
More time with their husbands and wives. More time to watch their children and grandchildren grow. More birthdays. More Christmases. More conversations around the dinner table.
More ordinary mornings and afternoons that never feel quite ordinary again after coming so close to losing them.
For some members of the RMCI family, this work is deeply personal. They understand what it means to receive another chance at life. To now be in a position to help give another person that same chance is both a responsibility and a privilege that cannot be taken lightly.
The People Behind Every Procedure
RMCI extends its gratitude to the cardiologists and specialists who have placed their expertise at the service of patients, as well as the referring physicians and partner hospitals whose trust and collaboration make continuity of care possible.
The hospital is especially grateful to its Cath Lab and hospital teams.
Most people will never see the long hours behind every procedure—the emergency calls in the middle of the night, the preparation, the difficult decisions, the careful monitoring, and the countless tasks performed quietly behind the scenes.
Yet every patient reached through the Cath Lab carries a part of their work.
RMCI likewise thanks every patient and every family who entrusted the hospital with their care, especially during some of the most frightening and uncertain moments of their lives.
Above all, RMCI gives thanks to God.
From the small Sacred Heart Clinic established in 1961 to the medical center it has become today, RMCI’s journey has always been a story of faith, sacrifice, perseverance, and service.
The hospital recognizes that none of these achievements were accomplished through human strength alone.
Five hundred patients.
Five hundred families.
Five hundred lives entrusted to our care.
Five hundred opportunities to fight for more time—and, for many, another chance at life.
RMCI receives this milestone with grateful hearts.
But this is not the conclusion of the story.
The work continues. More patients will come through these doors. More families will place their hope in the hands of our physicians, nurses, medical professionals, and staff.
And more chapters remain to be written.
Padayon.
To God be all the glory.
DR. ARVIN MICHAEL M. ANDOY
Schedule: THU, 1PM-5PM
Clinic Room: RMCI Medical Arts Building, 3rd floor
Contact: 09257076172
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DR. RAMON MIGUEL M. RIVERA
Schedule: MON-TUE, THURS-SAT, 9AM-3PM
Clinic Room: Ground Floor, RMCI Medical Arts Building
Contact: 09257076172
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DR. MYRRENE BLUE D. CABRERA
Schedule: THU, SAT, 10AM-12NN
Clinic Room: 2-2 H Subspecialty Clinic
Contact: 09257807696
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DR. AIDA P. MARANIAN
Schedule: WED, 10AM-12NN
Clinic Room: 2-2 H Subspecialty Clinic
Contact: 09257807696
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DR. ANNE BERNADETTE B. ARANGCON
Schedule: FRI, 1PM-3PM
Clinic Room: Cardio Metabolic
Contact: 09228282345
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DR. ANNIE LORAINE ESTROPE-KHAN
Schedule: By Appointment
Clinic Room: CMU
Contact: 09257076172
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