A P50 million Bagong Urgent Care and Ambulatory Service (BUCAS) Plus Center to be constructed at San Sebastian Street in Dawis, Bacolod City, is expected to be completed in nine months following the signing of a memorandum of agreement on Tuesday afternoon, August 12.
The MOA was signed by Bacolod Mayor Greg Gasataya and Dr. Joan Cerrada, Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital (CLMMRH) chief, at the Bacolod City Government Center lobby, with Bacolod Rep. Alfredo Abelardo Benitez and Health Undersecretary Dr. Mary Ann Maestral as witnesses.
Cerrada said the Bucas Plus Center will initially have 15 beds and is being built to help decongest the CLMMRH emergency room. It will also house the HIV/AIDS treatment hub and provide telemedicine services.
The project was initiated by Rep. Benitez when he was mayor of Bacolod.
“We are grateful to Bacolod City for providing the infrastructure, which CLMMRH will operationalize,” Cerrada said, noting that 50 to 55 percent of CLMMRH’s patients are from Bacolod City.
Maestral said that the Department of Health (DOH) will provide the manpower, equipment and supplies for the center but will also need assistance from Barangay Health Workers to guide patients to the facility.
Dr. Nikka Hao, DOH Negros Island Region (NIR) director, said that the Bucas Plus Center in Bacolod will be the first of its kind in the NIR.
It will bring surgical procedures closer to the community with patients not having to be admitted at a hospital, she said.
Hao said she hopes more BUCAS centers open in Bacolod and the rest of the NIR.
Meanwhile, Benitez announced his plan to file a bill on Wednesday to replicate the successful Bacolod Comprehensive Health Program nationwide, to ensure all Filipinos have access to medical aid.*