The Department of Health (DOH) on Tuesday underscored the importance of “intermediate” health facilities where prompt care for illnesses and injuries could be given particularly to the poor across the country.

Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa made the pronouncement during a groundbreaking ceremony of the first Bagong Urgent Care and Ambulatory Service (BUCAS) Center in Tubao, La Union on Monday.

Tubao is a fourth-class municipality located in the second district of the province of La Union.

The facility is the first BUCAS Center to rise in the Ilocos Region.

“BUCAS Center is an intermediate health facility that aims to bridge the gap between barangay health centers and higher-level hospitals by providing urgent health care services and ancillary services like mammogram, MRI (magnetic resonance imaging), CT (computed tomography) scan, and ultrasound to promote the health and well-being of every Filipino,” said Herbosa during the ceremony, as quoted in a DOH news release on Tuesday.

The DOH said it aims to provide accessible and quality healthcare services aligned with the directives of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. through the establishment of 28 BUCAS Centers in the country to serve the 28 million poorest Filipinos by the year 2028.

DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Singh-Vergeire, DOH-Ilocos Center for Health Development Regional Director Paula Paz Sydiongco, Assistant Regional Director Rodolfo Antonio Albornoz, La Union Second District Representative Dante Garcia, Ilocos Region Ilocos Training and Regional Medical Center Chief Eduardo Badua and Tubao Mayor Jonalyn Fontanilla-Piayas also attended the ceremony.

Last March 6, the DOH opened the first BUCAS Center in the Philippines in Sto. Tomas, Pampanga. It is hosted by the Jose B. Lingad Memorial General Hospital. It has laboratories with comprehensive diagnostic capabilities and it offers general surgery, oral-maxillofacial surgery, otorhinolaryngologic surgery, and reproductive health services. (PNA)