The Department of Health (DOH) has opened a total of 42 Bagong Urgent Care and Ambulatory Services (BUCAS) Centers in 2024.

According to Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa, the goal is to bring DOH health services closer to rural areas.

BUCAS Centers, also called Super Health Centers, are equipped with essential medical tools, doctors, and medicines.

In its year-end report, the DOH revealed that 20 BUCAS Centers have been built in Luzon, eight in the Visayas, and 14 in Mindanao.

The Philippine Health Center (PHC) became one of the first government specialty hospitals to establish its own BUCAS center within its premises.

Other government-owned hospitals include National Kidney Transplant Institute (NKTI) and the Lung Center of the Philippines (LCP).

During the inauguration of the BUCAS Center at the PHC in Quezon City, President Ferdinand Marcos R. Jr. awarded funding checks worth P200.5 million to the PHC, P185.2 million to the LCP, and P134 million to the NKTI.

Marcos expressed optimism that the three specialty hospitals would continue developing innovative medical services and projects that reflect both their “passion and compassion” for Filipinos.

“These grants aim to further the excellence in disease prevention, diagnostics, and treatments. That is the record of those specialty hospitals,” Marcos said.

“Today, we provide Filipinos with hope. Hope that medical care is within their grasp because of what we have built here in what we come to call the Bagong Pilipinas (New Philippines). Let us carry with us the understanding that our actions today will have a lasting impact. In ways that we may never see, lives will be changed because of what we have done,” he added.

The DOH originally targeted 28 BUCAS Centers to serve around 28 million Filipinos in need of accessible and quality healthcare.

“I only wanted to build 28 BUCAS Center for the 28 million poor. Of course it’s not enough but I wanted to start,” Herbosa said during the Malacañang Insider program in August.

“So we run the BUCAS Centers like a hospital without the beds. It runs from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.,” Herbosa added.

In addition to general surgery, oral-maxillofacial surgery, otorhinolaryngologic surgery, and reproductive health services, the BUCAS Centers provide laboratory services with advanced diagnostic capabilities.

To reach more communities, the DOH has also established Purok Kalusugan in remote areas.

They have also deployed 83 Bagong Pilipinas Mobile Clinics equipped for consultations, chest X-rays, ultrasounds, and blood tests.

According to Herbosa, the Bagong Pilipinas Mobile Clinics that were first created by First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos through her LAB for All Caravan are now circulating nationwide.

Meanwhile, the DOH has assigned 627 doctors to the rural areas, while supporting19,425 health workers and 253,537 Barangay Health Workers to further expand healthcare services across the country.