The Department of Health (DOH) is considering establishing more urgent care centers in Ilocos Norte to bring healthcare services closer to communities.

Next to Banna town, which recently opened its Bagong Urgent Care and Ambulatory Services (BUCAS) Center, the DOH-run Mariano Marcos Hospital and Medical Center (MMMH&MC) on Monday said it has been pushing for the operation of a BUCAS Center in Pagudpud to further boost the local economy.

“We have big plans for BUCAS. We are thinking of having a hyperbaric chamber in Pagudpud because there are diving sites in the area. It is also good for management for burns for faster healing,” Dr. Maria Lourdes Otayza, medical center chief of MMMH&MC, said during the National Hospital Week celebration outside the capitol.

Noting that MMMH&MC is already crowded and there is hardly any room for expansion, Otayza said the BUCAS Center in Pagudpud will be beneficial to residents in the northernmost part of the province, as well as the adjacent provinces of Cagayan and Apayao.

BUCAS centers provide alternative health services such as minor surgeries and other diagnostic services whenever other health facilities are closed.

Like in Banna, the one proposed in Pagudpud will also be manned by personnel of the MMMM&MC and will be open from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m., as health centers are operational only during office hours.

Aside from Pagudpud, the DOH is also mulling establishing a BUCAS center in Badoc town.

Ilocos Norte Governor Cecilia Araneta-Marcos said the opening of more BUCAS centers is a welcome development in the province.

“Thank you for caring for the health and well-being of every Ilocano and that has remained your core priorities,” she told the local officials and health workers gathered for the National Hospital Week celebration, which aims to promote a healthy workplace for all.

The opening of more BUCAS centers is part of the DOH’s 8-Point Action Agenda as a contribution to the Philippine Development Plan 2023-2028. (PNA)