ILOILO CITY — The Department of Health (DOH) is eyeing to open more Bagong Urgent Care and Ambulatory Service (BUCAS) Centers in the Western Visayas region.
THE Bagong Urgent Care and Ambulatory Service (BUCAS) Center at the Western Visayas Medical Center of the Department of Health (DOH) in Iloilo City. (WVMC)
“The BUCAS Centers are trying to close the gap of services between local health centers and the higher-level hospitals,” said DOH-6 Regional Director Dr. Adriano Suba-an.
There are currently two BUCAS Centers in the region – both located here and opened last May.
One is at the Western Visayas Medical Center (WVMC), a DOH-6 run hospital in Mandurriao District. It caters to outpatient medical services beyond daytime hours.
“We are offering sundown services,” said Suba-an while speaking at this week’s Kapihan sa Bagong Pilipinas forum of the Philippine Information Agency (PIA).
Services offered at WVMC BUCAS Center are adult and child care, ambulatory surgeries, specialty clinics, diagnostic and ancillary services, preventive health care, management of animal bites, and hospice palliative care.
The other is at Robinsons Place Iloilo. The country’s first mall-based BUCAS Center was expanded from a Know and Tell: Health and Wellness Lounge for Human Immunodeficiency Virus testing.
Suba-an said there are three proposed BUCAS Centers for Western Visayas.
One will be at the original building of the San Joaquin Mother and Child Hospital, which is an extension site of the WVMC in San Joaquin town, Iloilo province.
The second will be at the Aklan State University in Kalibo town, Aklan province. Suba-an said the DOH is working with the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) for the land within the university campus.
The third will be in Bacolod City in Negros Occidental. The local government unit (LGU) has donated a lot for the facility.
A program under the Marcos administration, the DOH provides personnel and equipment for the operation of BUCAS Centers.