The noble roots of the College of Medicine

 
In 1977, the University Physicians Foundation, Inc, was organized to establish a medical school in Dasmariñas, Cavite, in support of the government’s policy of dispersing educational facilities outside the capital city and encouraging the establishment of medical schools in various regions of the country to ensure the delivery of quality health care to them.  Originally named Emilio Aguinaldo College of Medicine, the school opened in 1979 with the Dr. Jose P. Rizal National Medical Research Center, the Medical Center Manila and the Andres Bonifacio Memorial Hospital as its initial training hospitals.

Three years later, in 1980, the Foundation acquired 1.2 hectares of additional property and construction was started for a 180-bed base teaching hospital. This 4-storey hospital, named the University Medical Center, was inaugurated on July 31, 1982. In 1985, the construction of the second 4-storey Medical Research Building for the College of Medicine, now the Academic Building, started.

In June 1987, the ownership and management of the Emilio Aguinaldo College of Medicine and the University Medical Center were acquired by the De La Salle University. The College of Medicine was thus renamed the De La Salle University- Emilio Aguinaldo College of Medicine and the hospital, the De La Salle University Medical Center.

Since the De La Salle Brothers assumed ownership, both the Hospital and the College, have steadily grown. In 1990, the De La Salle University Medical Center continued its expansion with the inauguration of the Wu Building.  In 1992, the College was renamed the De La Salle University College of Medicine.  On April 7, 1994, to lend impetus to its research thrust, the De La Salle University Angelo King Medical Research Center was established.  In June 1994, the management of the College of Physical Therapy, which was then part of DLSU-Aguinaldo (now DLSU- Dasmariñas), was also turned over to the De La Salle University College of Medicine.  By June 1995, the complex consisting of the College of Medicine, University Medical Center, College of Physical Therapy and Research Services was named De La Salle University– Health Sciences Campus or DLSU-HSC under the ownership and administration of the St. Bro. Miguel Febres Cordero Medical Education Foundation.

The De La Salle University Medical Center continued to grow with the opening of the 10-storey Teodorica Favis Vda. De Rivero Hall in 1997 and of the one-storey Jose Sotto Tantiansu Cancer Institute in 1988.  In January 1999, the Institute of Continuing Education for the Health Professionals (formerly Institute of Graduate Studies) was established.

In October 1999, the De La Salle University Medical Center gained the distinction of being the first hospital in the Philippines to be awarded the ISO 9001 Certification by the TUV– Rheinland, the first of a series of ISO certifications and other recognitions to be awarded to the hospital, recently of which is the Center for Excellence awarded by the Philhealth.

In May 2000, more colleges were placed under the administration of the DLSU-Health Sciences Campus with the transfer of the College of Medical Radiation Technology and the College of Nursing and School of Midwifery from the De La Salle University- Dasmariñas.

Eventually, the institution’s name became De La Salle Health Sciences Institute (DLSHSI) upon the approval of the Board of Trustees in September 2007. The change of the name was arrived at to herald the Institution’s reinvigorated drive to pursue its avowed mission to become one of the leading health education and health care institutions in the country.