Tzu Chi is a non-profit charitable organization founded by the Buddhist nun Dharma Master Cheng Yen in Hualien, Taiwan in 1966. At that time, Hualien was undeveloped and impoverished. The master and her disciples sewed baby shoes, made candles and encouraged their followers to save 0.30 NT$ every day for charity.

During her charity visits, Dharma Master Cheng Yen realized that many families became poor due to illness or vice versa. She concluded that, to end poverty, illness needed to be taken care of first. She founded a free clinic in 1972 which provided medical services to the poor twice a week and then set out to build a hospital. Today, the Master’s compassion has resulted in the establishment of seven Tzu Chi hospitals across Taiwan.

Shortly after a local Tzu Chi chapter was established in the Philippines in 1995, a group of Tzu Chi volunteers and local doctors held a free clinic in Baguio. Thus begun Tzu Chi’s medical work in the country.

In 2007, the Tzu Chi Clinic was established in Bacood, Sta. Mesa. It offered free dental and eye care services to indigent patients from across the Philippines. In 2016, the establishment underwent renovation and was renamed to Tzu Chi Eye Center. Today, it is a three-floor structure that features four operating rooms that are equipped with the most advanced ophthalmic technology, and diagnostic rooms as well as a roster of ophthalmologists from a variety of sub specializations.