Filipino Doctor in Las Vegas refused to retire until death due to COVID-19

Based in Las Vegas, Dr. Arthur Tayengco was a dedicated obstetrician-gynecologist of over 50 years who continued to see his patients in his private practice at Charleston Boulevard until he contracted the coronavirus. (File Photo: Michelle Tayengco)

The list of medical professionals who died in the line of duty in the United States due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) keeps on growing, as an 81-year-old Filipino doctor who refused to retire, practiced his profession until he succumbed to the virus.

Based in Las Vegas, Dr. Arthur Tayengco was a dedicated obstetrician-gynecologist of over 50 years who continued to see his patients in his private practice at Charleston Boulevard until he contracted the coronavirus.

“He loved medicine. He just wouldn’t stop. I kept asking, ‘Don’t you want to retire yet?’ He would say, ‘No, I’m not done,’” his eldest daughter Michele Tayengco revealed to the Asian Journal her father’s passion in medicine.

“It wasn’t just because of the pandemic. I would ask him that every now and then because he was getting frail-looking. He wasn’t slowing down. He basically said ‘It’s not time yet. I’m not yet done, what would I do with myself?’” Michele said.

According to Dr. Tayengco’s family, he was infected by the coronavirus in March after two of his medical assistants in his clinic tested positive of the COVID-19.

He tested positive after exhibiting symptoms associated with the illness such as fever, cough, and loss of taste.  The doctor remained in isolation at home until April 5 when he was brought to the hospital where he fought the disease for 16 days.

“He was sedated and ventilated immediately. The best we could do was bid farewell through a call via WebEx. It was getting so bad so fast.”

He died in the early hours of April 22 after being brought to the hospice care the previous day.

Dr. Tayengco was part of the faculty at the University of Nevada-Reno (UNR) and was one of the founding members of the Philippine Medical Association of Nevada.

According to Dr. Teresita Melocoton, president of the Philippine Medical Association of Nevada, Dr. Tayengco is the first practicing Filipino doctor in Las Vegas to die from COVID-19.

“Every time I see newborns, the mother would always say, ‘I hope Dr.

Tayengco will not retire because I want to have another child.’ That’s how good he was,” Dr. Melocoton told the Asian Journal.

The 81-year-old doctor was born in Iloilo City, Philippines, and received his medical degree from the University of the East Ramon Magsaysay Memorial Medical Center College of Medicine in Manila. He came to the US in the early 1960s for his OB-GYN residency at St. Clare’s Hospital and Health Care Center in New York.

He completed a fellowship at Nassau Country Medical Center and also served as a clinical assistant professor at the University of Las Vegas, School of Medicine, and instructed hundreds of medical residents over the years.

“He loved the idea of being able to bring new children into the world. With every child that he met, he was always super engaged,” Tayengco’s younger daughter Stephanie told the Asian Journal. His daughters estimated that the number of newborns he has delivered may be equal to a student population of four high schools.

“He would try to get on their level and speak to them both as children but also treating them like miniature adults,” Stephanie said.

Dr. Tayengco is survived by his daughters, his ex-wife of whom he remained close, and his four sisters.