The country now has 28 Bagong Urgent Care and Ambulatory Service (BUCAS) centers, Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa said on Friday.

Legislators committed to fund the building of more such health facilities, according to Secretary Herbosa.

The BUCAS centers were established to address the ambulatory medical and surgical care needs of Filipinos.

“So, immediately after we launched the first one on March 6, we now have 28 all over the country and that was my initial goal. I only wanted to build 28 BUCAS centers for the 28 million poor. Of course it’s not enough but I wanted to start,” Herbosa said during the Malacañang Insider program.

“But because it was a success, it even got to the SONA of the President . And he mentioned it there. So happy that he mentioned it. Now, I came from Congress and they want to fund our BUCAS centers,” he added.

The DOH is receiving help from local government units and lawmakers, he said. A BUCAS center in Santo Tomas, Pampanga was donated to the DOH because the local government unit does not have the resources to run and manage the health facility.

“So we run the BUCAS centers like a hospital without the beds. It runs from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.,” he said.

“So, why it became a hit? It’s that, before, if you’re [a] working person, by the time you end work and you want to bring your child to the hospital, the outpatient [is] closed. Outpatient service is close. But the BUCAS is open until 10 p.m. So you’ll get home at 5 p.m. You see your child is sick, you bring them to the BUCAS center,” he explained.

Apart from offering general surgery, oral-maxillofacial surgery, otorhinolaryngologic surgery, and reproductive health services, the BUCAS centers also offer laboratory services with comprehensive diagnostic capabilities. PND