The third Bagong Urgent Care and Ambulatory Service (BUCAS) center will open in this city next month, the Department of Health in Davao Region (DOH-11) said on Tuesday.

Dr. Annabelle Yumang, DOH-11 Director, said the BUCAS Center will open at Southern Philippines Medical Center–Marilog Hospital in August.

BUCAS Centers are already operational at Davao Regional Medical Center (DOGH) – Tagum City and Davao Occidental General Hospital in Malita town.

The center consisted of multi-specialty clinics — family medicine, internal medicine, general surgery, obstetrician and gynecologist, pediatrics, urgent care (triage, basic emergency services, patient transport), ancillary and ambulatory surgery.

“It is a health facility with a comprehensive array of outpatient health care services in partnership with the DOH hospitals to provide its human resources for health complement,” Yumang said during Tuesday’s “Kapihan sa Bagong Pilipinas” briefing here.

Dr. Glinard Quezada, chief of DOGH Medical Center, said at least 120 minor surgeries have been performed since the inauguration of their BUCAS Center last month.

“We started the outpatient consultations at 15 clients per day and we are opening today the dental services, prioritizing the pregnant,” he added.

Quezada also noted that the center is relying on the Medical Assistance to Indigent and Financially Incapacitated Patients (MAIFIP) fund and the Konsulta comprehensive outpatient benefits package of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation to be sustainable.

In his first State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 25, 2022, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. discussed his plan to build more hospitals and other medical facilities outside the National Capital Region to address the medical needs of Filipinos in far-flung areas throughout the country.

“In his 2nd SONA last year, the President expressed that health is now touted as the government’s second weapon. Thus, the government is refocusing its health priorities from addressing malnutrition to strengthening the health care system,” Yumang said during the forum.

To meet Universal Health Care’s infrastructure and medical equipment demands, the DOH implemented the Health Facilities Enhancement Program to boost capital investments in government health facilities.

From 2021 to date, the Davao Region has 1,375 government health facilities. (PNA)