THE UST Faculty of Medicine and Surgery (FMS) has raised over half of the P1.2-billion target for the construction of the Henry Sy Sr. Hall and improvements at the St. Martin de Porres Building in the Sampaloc campus.
The Henry Sy Sr. Hall is named after the late founder of the mall and property developer group, Henry Sy Sr., as requested by his daughter Teresita Sy-Coson, who donated P300 million to the project.
It will occupy the parking lot beside the Tan Yan Kee Student Center and in front of the Miguel de Benavides Library.
Other higher education institutions that have their own Henry Sy Sr. halls include the University of the Philippines Bonifacio Global City campus, De La Salle University, and Assumption College.
“One way for us to best honor our dad is to help education institutions build facilities as education meant so much to him in his early adult life,” Sy-Coson said in a recorded message played during the “Go Further: Beyond 150 Years” event, the capital campaign that closed Medicine’s 150th anniversary celebration on Oct. 3.
The proposed building will house the Sts. Cosmas and Damian Simulation and Research Center, which aims to help students bridge their basic medical education and real-life clinical practice by providing simulation aides, said the UST FMS Anargyroi Foundation, Inc. (AFI), an alumni group spearheading the project.
“This would assure them of competitive quality education, keeping true to one of the qualities of a Thomasian doctor—being competent. We encourage everyone to come and be part of this historical narrative,” AFI Executive Director Anna Maria Gloria Ward said.
The Henry Sy Sr. Hall will have 45 rooms for naming rights, which will cost P5 million to P50 million each. Fourteen rooms have been reserved for donors and pledgees.
Fundraising Committee Chairman Dr. Charles Cuaso said the main objective of the AFI was to create sustainable financial resources through a continuous flow of donations to support projects.
“It may appear ambitious, to say the least, but with the combination of determination and a lot of work, nothing is unachievable,” he said.
A portion of the P1.2-billion fund will also be allocated to various initiatives of Medicine, such as simulation projects, research projects, and faculty development.
