Our story
A foundation, born from a real family story.
Not a corporate chain, but a foundation — born from one son's love for his mother, and a refusal to let excellent dialysis be a privilege of the few.
It began in a family, in a hard season. When our founder's mother suffered kidney failure, she was started on hemodialysis — and after she was discharged from the hospital, her treatment continued at a free-standing dialysis center. Walking every step of it beside her, he came to understand something profound: dialysis is a life-saving treatment, one that can give a family more precious time together.
But he also saw the other side. Their experience there, to put it kindly, left much to be desired. And the cost was considerable — enough that he finally understood why some patients could not keep to their schedules the way they should. Caring for a loved one on dialysis, he realized, can push a whole family into crisis — and not only a financial one.
He refused to accept that this was simply how it had to be. Someone had to do this better — with real excellence, and with genuine compassion for the families behind every patient. So he turned to his long-time friend and elementary-school classmate, and together they resolved that they would be the ones to build it — out of something simple and stubborn: compassion, and an unwavering grit for excellence.
One conviction drove them, and still does: world-class hemodialysis should never be a privilege of the few. It should reach the many — ordinary Filipino families — without ever asking them to trade their safety for what they can afford. Not someday. Here, and now.
On June 28, 2011, that resolve became real: St. John Biocare was registered with the SEC, and its first clinic opened in Quezon City on October 16, 2011. We were built as a non-stock foundation on purpose — it means we answer to a mission, not to shareholders. What started as one family's promise is now a growing network of centers, and we are only getting started.
“The St. John Biocare Way is to put the patient first… we must see the world through the eyes of our patients and their families.” We call the people we serve client-patients.
Our journey
From one clinic to a growing network.
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June 2011
Registered as a foundation
On June 28, 2011, St. John Biocare was registered with the SEC as a non-stock, non-profit foundation — built to answer to a mission, not to shareholders.
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October 2011
The first center opens
Our very first dialysis clinic opened its doors in Quezon City on October 16, 2011, on Quezon Avenue — still our main center today.
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October 2012
Core Renal Center joins the family
On October 1, 2012, Core Renal Center in Makati was acquired and welcomed into the network — opening under our care ahead of our Marikina center.
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January 2013
St. John Biocare – Marikina opens
Having acquired the St. Pio Dialysis Center Foundation in Marikina in September 2012, we rechristened it St. John Biocare Dialysis Center – Marikina and formally opened its doors on January 25, 2013.
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June 2015
St. John Biocare – Caloocan opens
On June 30, 2015, our Caloocan center opened inside Araneta Square, bringing dependable dialysis to the city's north.
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July 2019
St. Josef Renal Care joins the family — Concepcion
On July 11, 2019, our sister foundation St. Josef Renal Care opened its Concepcion, Marikina center, widening the network's reach.
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November 2022
St. Josef Renal Care – Marilao opens
On November 18, 2022, St. Josef Renal Care – Marilao opened in Bulacan, carrying the same standard beyond Metro Manila.
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The years since
Growing into a network
Center by center, the promise spread across Metro Manila and into Bulacan — every new clinic held to the same standard as the very first.
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Today
Fifteen years, and counting
Fifteen years on, 6 centers are open across Metro Manila and Bulacan, with 3 more under construction — among the country's pioneers of free-standing dialysis care.
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Ahead
Only getting started
The mission has not changed: excellent, honest dialysis for every family. We are only getting started.
Our network
Three foundations, one family of care.
St. John Biocare grew into a network of sister foundations — each independent, all holding to the same standard.
St. John Biocare
Where it all began in 2011 — our founding foundation, anchored at the Quezon Avenue main center.
- Quezon Avenue · Quezon City
- Caloocan · Caloocan City
- Marikina (San Roque) · Marikina City
Core Renal Center
Our sister center, bringing the same standard of dialysis to Makati.
- Santillan (Makati) · Makati City
+ 1 more opening this year
St. Josef Renal Care Foundation
Our sister foundation, extending care into Marikina, Bulacan and beyond.
- Marikina (Concepcion) · Marikina City
- Marilao, Bulacan · Marilao, Bulacan
+ 2 more opening this year
What makes us different
Being a foundation means the patient always wins.
Because we answer to a mission and not to shareholders, every peso goes back into care — and into the standards others quietly skip. Well-established medicines, water purified twice by dual-pass reverse osmosis, machines calibrated by their own makers, and a bar set by both Philippine and international best practice. Excellence is not our marketing. It is the whole reason we exist.
What drives us
Our vision & mission.
The future we are working toward — and what we do every day to get there.
A vision is the future we want to help create — where we are headed.
“By 2036, to be the leading foundation-run hemodialysis network in the Philippines — prioritizing patient interests, upholding principled pricing standards, and training the next generation of hemodialysis care teams — so that world-class dialysis care is within reach of every Filipino family, not just the few.”
A mission is what we do every day, and how, to make that future real.
“To provide the best-quality, expert clinical hemodialysis care — delivered ethically, in compliance with applicable clinical, safety, and regulatory standards, and continually improved — through state-of-the-art, innovative, and affordable treatment, by outstanding and compassionate personnel, while training the next generation of hemodialysis care teams to carry that same standard forward, responsive always to the needs of our patients and their families.”
“We treat every client-patient with dignity, fairness, and full transparency — in clinical decisions, in cost, and in care. No patient is turned away, deprioritized, or upsold based on ability to pay. Every foundation peso serves the mission, never a shareholder.”
What we stand for
The BIOCARE values.
Best-quality & ethical care
Exemplary clinical care as our first promise, and unwavering integrity as the standard beneath it: informed consent, fair treatment, and honesty with every patient, every time.
Innovative technology
State-of-the-art, modern hemodialysis equipment and continuously improving clinical protocols.
Outstanding service
Service that goes beyond the expected, every visit.
Compassionate, competent & professional
Skilled people who treat you like family, and who hold themselves to a professional standard at every station, every shift.
Affordable & accountable
Honest, accessible dialysis care, and honest answers about every peso it costs.
Responsive & adaptive
We answer the real needs of every client-patient.
Expertise in renal education
We teach patients and families to understand their care, and we train the hemodialysis care teams who will carry that standard into the next generation.