Healthcare was on top of the President’s agenda on Tuesday, Sept. 10.
First, President Marcos led the inauguration of the Bagong Urgent Care and Ambulatory Service Center (BUCAS) at the Philippine Heart Center. “We are transforming how we handle critical moments when time is both our greatest enemy and our most valuable ally,” he said in his speech.
The BUCAS Center, launched in March this year, establishes a healthcare network to bridge the gap between primary care facilities, such as rural or health units, and hospitals. It will provide urgent health care services for minor surgeries and other ancillary services. There are now 31 BUCAS Centers around the country.
“It is about replacing uncertainty and worry with a sense of reassurance that help is close by. It is about the lives that we change and the hope that we restore,” Marcos said of the Department of Health’s modernization project.
To further strengthen the healthcare network, more funds to upgrade medical facilities and purchase new equipment were distributed to government hospitals – ₱200.5 million to the Philippine Heart Center, ₱185.2 million to the Lung Center of the Philippines, ₱134 million to the National Kidney and Transplant Institute, and ₱150 million to the Philippine Children’s Medical Center.
“These grants aim to further their excellence in disease prevention, diagnostics, and treatments that is the record of those specialty hospitals,” Marcos said.
The donation from the Office of the President (OP) will fund the procurement of essential medical equipment.
The President did not leave out an important segment of healthcare services – how the patient is transported to the health center or hospital. Tuesday’s activities included the turnover of 129 ambulances to local government units around the country, regardless of political affiliations. The added ambulance in LGUs will significantly improve the delivery of emergency health services in vulnerable communities and geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas.
“Our healthcare system shouldn’t be politicized,” the President emphasized, saying that one of his first instructions was the purchase of ambulances for LGUs regardless of political affiliation. “Many times, these vehicles make the difference between life and death.”
“No matter how many hospitals and health centers we build, no matter how many medical health professionals we employ, and no matter how much equipment we acquire, it would all be devoid of meaning and purpose if patients cannot reach them in moments of need,” he said.
One ambulance was distributed to each LGU – 87 in Calabarzon, 25 in the Bicol region, eight in Central Luzon, six in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), and three in Cagayan Valley. Marcos said the program will procure more ambulances, or patient transport vehicles (PTVs), to ensure that every municipality in the country will have two PTVs.
The initiative is under the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) Medical Transport Vehicle Donation Program.
Establishing a strong network for the delivery of healthcare services shows government’s concern for the people, especially those who are living far from the urban centers.