WVSU Medical Center Rates & Fees 2026: Price List & Zero Balance Billing

Quick Answer: West Visayas State University Medical Center (WVSU Medical Center), known locally as Don Benito, is a 300-bed teaching hospital in Jaro, Iloilo City, operated by the university, not the Department of Health. Its published 2026 diagnostics price list runs from an ECG at ₱600 and a 2D-Echo at ₱4,000 to a CT scan at ₱3,875–₱10,250 and an MRI at ₱7,208–₱23,631, depending on the study. It is not one of the four DOH-retained hospitals in the region enrolled in the government's newly expanded Zero Balance Billing program — but as a PhilHealth-accredited hospital with charity wards, indigent and sponsored patients can still access No Balance Billing through its on-site Malasakit Center.

Table of Contents

• About WVSU Medical Center (Don Benito)
• Is WVSU Medical Center the same as Western Visayas Medical Center?
• WVSU Medical Center price list 2026
• Laboratory prices
• Medical records and certificate fees
• Does Zero Balance Billing apply at WVSU Medical Center?
• The Malasakit Center at WVSU Medical Center
• How to avail of services and keep costs down
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Conclusion

About WVSU Medical Center (Don Benito)

West Visayas State University Medical Center (WVSU Medical Center or WVSUMC) sits on E. Lopez Street in Jaro, Iloilo City. Older residents and many patients still call it Don Benito — it began in the 1940s as the Don Benito Lopez Memorial Hospital, a private facility built by the Lopez family. The West Visayas State University acquired it on April 5, 1987, renamed it West Visayas State University Hospital, and secured its Medical Center designation from the university's Board of Regents and the DOH on November 29, 2001, according to Wikipedia's history of the hospital.

It functions as a Level III tertiary, teaching and training hospital — the base hospital for WVSU's College of Medicine, School of Nursing, and other health-sciences programs, with accredited residency training in surgery, OB-GYNE, internal medicine, pediatrics, orthopedics, psychiatry, and anesthesiology. Its authorized capacity is 300 beds, split between charity and pay sections, with an expansion project underway toward 360 beds.

Because WVSU Medical Center is a university-owned government hospital, not a DOH-retained one, it is administratively independent of the Department of Health — though, per the same Wikipedia summary, its "policies and procedures are patterned after DOH and the Philippine General Hospital." That distinction matters for anyone comparing it to the DOH's own regional hospital across town, and it's the single most common source of confusion when people search for this hospital's rates.

Is WVSU Medical Center the same as Western Visayas Medical Center?

No — they are two different hospitals, and mixing them up is easy to do. Here's the quick comparison:

If you're specifically looking for the DOH regional hospital and its ₱0-ward Zero Balance Billing coverage, see our Western Visayas Medical Center rates and fees guide instead. This article covers WVSU Medical Center (Don Benito) in Jaro.

WVSU Medical Center price list 2026

WVSU Medical Center publishes an official 17-page diagnostics price list on its website (wvsu.edu.ph/medcenter), covering imaging, cardiovascular tests, laboratory, and histopathology. The hospital notes on every page that prices may change at any time without further notice — treat the figures below as a 2026 snapshot, and confirm current prices directly with the relevant department before your visit.

Cardiovascular Unit

Cardiovascular Unit contact: (033) 320-2431 local 636, or 0908-236-5503.

CT scan (Diagnostic Imaging Dept.)

Rates run from ₱3,875 to ₱10,250 service rate depending on the study. A sample:

MRI (Diagnostic Imaging Dept.)

Rates run from ₱7,208 to ₱23,631, all listed as plain (non-contrast) studies; add ₱2,000 for contrast.

Ultrasound

X-ray (Radiologic Examinations)

The full document also lists dozens of special radiologic exams (barium studies, IVP, cystogram, HSG, and more) with pay rates between roughly ₱1,690 and ₱2,760.

Laboratory prices

The laboratory price list (main lab local 108/138) shows three columns: a Regular Rate, a Service Rate (20% less), and a Charge Rate (with 15% additional charge). The document does not spell out exactly which tier applies to which patient type on the page itself — call the laboratory to confirm before your test if you're unsure which rate you'll be charged.

Fasting-blood specimens are collected 6:00–8:00 AM at the OPD building entrance, with 8–10 hours of no food or water beforehand.

Medical records and certificate fees

Does Zero Balance Billing apply at WVSU Medical Center?

Not automatically — and this is worth being precise about. The government's expanded Zero Balance Billing (ZBB) policy, announced in the July 2025 State of the Nation Address, applies to DOH-retained hospitals. In Western Visayas and the Negros Island Region, that's a specific list of four: Western Visayas Medical Center, Western Visayas Sanitarium and General Hospital, Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital, and Don Jose S. Monfort Medical Center — reported by the Philippine Information Agency and corroborated by national coverage of the DOH hospital list.

WVSU Medical Center is not on that list, because it is a state-university hospital, administratively separate from the DOH, not one of DOH's 87 retained facilities. That means a ward admission here is not automatically guaranteed to be ₱0 the way it is at, for example, Western Visayas Medical Center across the city.

That doesn't mean ward patients here pay full freight. WVSU Medical Center is PhilHealth-accredited (stated on every page of its official price list) and maintains charity wards alongside its pay sections — a structure dating back to its original 1987 conversion (100 charity beds, 50 pay beds). Under PhilHealth's older No Balance Billing (NBB) policy (Circular 0003 s.2014 and later issuances), indigent, sponsored, and senior-citizen patients admitted to ward accommodation at PhilHealth-accredited hospitals — including SUC-run ones like this — can qualify for ₱0 balances on covered services. For a full explanation of how NBB/ZBB works and who qualifies nationwide, see our Zero Balance Billing guide.

Bottom line: if you're an indigent, sponsored, or senior PhilHealth member admitted to the charity ward, ask the hospital's Social Service Unit and Malasakit Center whether your bill qualifies for a ₱0 balance under NBB. If you're a regular PhilHealth member in a pay ward or private room, expect your PhilHealth case rate to be deducted and the remaining balance billed to you — WVSU Medical Center does not publish a public list of room rates, so confirm current room prices directly with the billing office.

The Malasakit Center at WVSU Medical Center

WVSU Medical Center hosts an on-site Malasakit Center, which opened around September 2021 as the 141st Malasakit Center in the country, according to the Philippine News Agency. It launched with an initial ₱10-million fund, with an additional ₱5 million reportedly planned before the end of that year.

The Malasakit Center brings four assistance agencies under one roof:

• DOH medical assistance,
• PhilHealth benefit verification,
• DSWD crisis assistance (AICS), and
• PCSO medical assistance and Guarantee Letters.

Assistance is free to apply for. It's typically most useful for the gap between what PhilHealth/NBB covers and your actual bill — medicines the hospital pharmacy doesn't stock, supplies, or a pay-ward balance. For the general mechanics of how Malasakit Centers work nationwide, see our Malasakit Center guide. If your hospital bill situation is bigger than what Malasakit or PhilHealth can close, our guide on what to do when you can't pay a hospital bill covers additional options.

How to avail of services and keep costs down

1. Bring a valid ID and your PhilHealth details (PIN) to any consult, admission, or diagnostic booking.
2. For diagnostic procedures, the hospital's own price list notes requirements that were current as of its printing — for example, some cardiovascular tests list a negative RT-PCR and chest X-ray as prerequisites. These may be outdated pandemic-era holdovers; call the relevant department first (cardiovascular unit: 033-320-2431 local 636) to confirm what's actually required before you show up.
3. No walk-ins for scheduled diagnostic procedures unless a slot is available — the official document states this explicitly for cardiovascular studies with guarantee letters.
4. If you're indigent, sponsored, or a senior citizen, go to the Malasakit Center or Social Service Unit early in your visit — before your bill piles up — to find out if you qualify for a ₱0 balance under PhilHealth's No Balance Billing policy.
5. If you need a private room or an elective procedure, call the billing/admitting office directly, since room rates are not published online and can change.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does an ECG cost at WVSU Medical Center?

₱600 total (₱500 procedure fee plus ₱100 professional fee), per the hospital's official 2026 diagnostics price list.

How much is a CT scan at WVSU Medical Center?

CT scans range from about ₱3,875 for a standard single-region study (chest, facial bones, brain) up to ₱10,250 for a CT angiogram of the extremities, depending on the exact procedure. Whole-abdomen CT runs about ₱7,175.

How much is an MRI at WVSU Medical Center?

Plain MRI studies range from ₱7,205 (foot/ankle, unilateral) to ₱23,631 (cervico-thoracic-lumbar spine). Add roughly ₱2,000 for contrast.

Is WVSU Medical Center the same as Western Visayas Medical Center?

No. WVSU Medical Center (Don Benito) in Jaro is run by West Visayas State University. Western Visayas Medical Center (WVMC) in Mandurriao is a separate, DOH-retained hospital. They are commonly confused because of the similar names and shared city.

Does WVSU Medical Center offer Zero Balance Billing?

Not under the government's 2025 nationwide ZBB expansion, which applies specifically to DOH-retained hospitals — a list that in this region includes WVMC but not WVSU Medical Center. However, WVSU Medical Center is PhilHealth-accredited and runs charity wards, so indigent, sponsored, and senior-citizen patients may still qualify for a ₱0 balance under PhilHealth's older No Balance Billing policy. Confirm your specific case with the hospital's Social Service Unit.

Does WVSU Medical Center have a Malasakit Center?

Yes. It opened around September 2021 as the country's 141st Malasakit Center, combining DOH, PhilHealth, DSWD, and PCSO assistance in one window inside the hospital.

What is "Don Benito Hospital"?

It's the colloquial name locals still use for WVSU Medical Center, after the original Don Benito Lopez Memorial Hospital that the university acquired in 1987. If you're searching for "Don Benito Lopez Memorial Hospital rates," this is the hospital you're looking for — it operates today as WVSU Medical Center.

Where can I find WVSU Medical Center's room rates?

The hospital does not publish a public price list for private or pay-ward room rates. Call the billing or admitting office directly for current figures, and ask about your PhilHealth case-rate deduction and any charity-ward eligibility at the same time.

Conclusion

WVSU Medical Center — Don Benito — is a genuine teaching hospital with a real, itemized 2026 diagnostics price list: an ECG at ₱600, a 2D-Echo at ₱4,000, CT scans from roughly ₱3,875 to ₱10,250, and MRI studies from ₱7,205 to ₱23,631. What it isn't is one of the region's DOH-retained hospitals, so it sits outside the government's newly expanded Zero Balance Billing program — a distinction worth knowing before you assume a ward stay here is automatically free. Indigent and sponsored patients still have a path to a ₱0 balance through PhilHealth's older No Balance Billing rules and the hospital's own Malasakit Center, but everyone else should budget against the published diagnostics prices and confirm room rates directly with billing.

For the DOH hospital across town with confirmed ₱0-ward Zero Balance Billing, see our Western Visayas Medical Center guide. To understand how No Balance Billing and Zero Balance Billing actually work nationwide, read our Zero Balance Billing explainer and our Malasakit Center guide. To find other clinics and diagnostic centers in Iloilo, browse ClinicFinderPH's Iloilo diagnostic centers guide or search near you.

Prices reflect WVSU Medical Center's official diagnostics price list as published online as of July 2026. The hospital states prices may change without notice — always confirm current rates directly with the relevant department before your visit.