São Paulo – The Syrian Lebanese Hospital has not been in the limelight only in recent times. That is where personalities take care of their health. Former vice president José Alencar is treating an abdomen cancer there. The governor of the state of São Paulo, Geraldo Alckmin, had gastritis diagnosed at the Syrian Lebanese hospital in late 2010. President Dilma Rousseff treated her lymph-node cancer there. With so many famous patients (and doctors) at the same address, one question must be asked: What does the Syrian Lebanese do to attract so many people?
To the corporate strategy superintendant at the Syrian-Lebanese Hospital, Paulo Chapchap, the answer is simple: "We offer quality assistance, with motivated professionals and advanced infrastructure. With quality personnel and technology, it is almost natural for the Syrian-Lebanese to be sought by all," he said.
But that is not the only answer. Some hospitals elect areas of medicine to specialize in. And one of the specialities of the Syrian is oncology. Many of these "famous" patients go to the doctor there to treat cancer. Apart from José Alencar and Dilma, former São Paulo state governor Orestes Quércia and actors Paulo Autran and Raul Cortez (all three already deceased) sought treatment there.
The selection of this specialty some 12 years ago was the result of the understanding that people were living longer and longer, generating the chance of development of diseases like cancer and heart problems (the hospital is also specialized in cardiology) "We also invest in neurology, as many people currently suffer brain haemorrhages, also related to age," said Chapchap.
To become a centre of excellence in training, a hospital needs state-of-the-art equipment and doctors. And that was what the Syrian-Lebanese did when it "elected" the fight against cancer as one of its specialties. "We brought professor and Dr. Paulo Hoff, who had been in the United States for 16 years, to head our oncology department. We now organise our professionals in study centres. They meet periodically and discuss more serious cases, and we seek the ideal technology for treatment, something still experimental. We have access to this kind of drug," he said.
The Syrian also attracts patients who live outside São Paulo and from other areas in Brazil. Last year, the president of the Senate, José Sarney, was treated at the hospital. His daughter, Maranhão state governor Roseana Sarney, has already been operated on there. The president of Paraguay, Fernando Lugo, treated a lymph-node cancer at the Syrian-Lebanese. "Today, 5% of our patients are from other countries," said Chapchap. He estimates that between 25% and 30% travel to São Paulo exclusively for treatment at the hospital.
Last year, the Syrian-Lebanese invested 130 million Brazilian reals (US$ 78 million) in research and patient treatment. This year, another 600 million reals (US$ 360 million) should be turned to these sectors and to the inauguration of new units: in July the hospital should inaugurate an oncology centre in Brasília, the Brazilian capital. The Syrian Lebanese is going to inaugurate a centre specialized in women’s health on Avenida Brasil, in São Paulo, also in the middle of this year. The total investment does not include the construction of a hospital in Campinas, to be managed by the Syrian-Lebanese. Last year another unit was inaugurated in the Itaim Bibi neighbourhood.
Despite investments and revenues of approximately 700 million reals (US$ 420 million) in 2010, the Syrian-Lebanese is a non-profit-making institution, maintained by the Women’s Beneficent Society – Syrian-Lebanese Hospital (SBS-HSL). The first building was inaugurated in 1940, but was occupied three years later by the Cadet Preparatory School, being returned to the Beneficent Society some years afterwards. It was re-inaugurated in 1965 and currently employs 4,000 people.
Despite the centres of excellence, the hospital, which currently treats the most influent politicians and businessmen in the country, has a partnership with the Municipal Health Secretariat. Three medical wards (AMAs) are managed by the hospital: Peri-Peri and Vila Piauí (both in the western zone of São Paulo) and Santa Cecília (in the central area). "When we establish partnerships like these, we place our professionals in contact with other patients and fulfil our mission, that of treating people no matter what their capacity," said Chapchap.
*Translated by Mark Ament
