CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY (January 8, 2025) — ‘Purok Kalusugan’ and ‘Bagong (New) Urgent Care and Ambulatory Services’ (BUCAS) centers are two programs implemented by the Department of Health Center for Health Development Northern Mindanao (DOH-CHDNM) under the Universal Health Care Act (UHC) that bring health services closer to the people, especially the farthest and smallest communities

In a press conference organized by the DOH-CHDNM, Dr. Steffi Grace H. Enon, DOH-CHDNM chief of the local health support division, shared that ‘Purok Kalusugan’ is aligned with the UHC. “Gikan sa iyang ngalan nga Purok Kalusugan, atong gusto nga ang mga serbisyo nga pangkalusugan o panglawas dal-on nato sa level sa purok,” she said.

(From its name, Purok Kalusugan, we want all services related to health and nutrition to be brought to the level of a zone.)

The UHC Act has many goals, said Enon, but its main goal is that “We want all Filipinos to experience health services that are accessible, affordable, close to them, of quality, and safe.”

The Purok Kalusugan program includes all eight priority health outcomes of DOH, which will be implemented at the “purok,” or zone level.

The eight priority health outcomes include vaccination, nutrition, water supply, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH), maternal health, tuberculosis and HIV, road safety, non-communicable diseases (specifically high blood pressure and diabetes), and cancer.

These eight priority outcomes are called high burdens because many people are affected by them. The Department of Health is focusing on these eight. “If we can improve them, we can say that our community will be healthy,” Enon said.

Opening of BUCAS centers in Northern Mindanao

The Department of Health has launched a new initiative, the Bagong (New) Urgent Care and Ambulatory Services (BUCAS) facility, under the management of DOH hospitals.

Dr. Raymond G. Dela Cruz, the chief of the regulations, licensing, and enforcement division at DOH-CHDNM, stated that this facility will address the issue of congestion in the region’s government hospitals.

“Kasagara niini ang problema, dugay sila maatiman tungod sa kadaghan, limitado ang lugar sa hospital aron maka-accommodate kanila, so ang initiative sa Department of Health mao nga i-forward position kining serbisyo sa atong mga komunidad nga ang mga hospital mu-perform og mga minor surgeries ug mga konsultasyon nga nagkinahanglan og espesyalista. Ang mga ancillary services, mga specialized laboratory exam, ug x-rays idala sa BUCAS centers,” Dela Cruz said.

(This is usually the problem; it takes a long time to attend to them because of the large number, and the hospital space is limited to accommodate them. So, the initiative of the Department of Health is to forward-position these services in our communities so that hospitals perform minor surgeries and consultations requiring specialists. Ancillary services, specialized laboratory exams, and x-rays will be brought to BUCAS centers.)

Currently, there are four operational BUCAS centers in Northern Mindanao. The North Eastern Misamis General Hospital, located in Villanueva, Misamis Oriental, is one of the DOH hospitals; another in Misamis Occidental is located in Plaridel, managed by Mayor Hilarion A. Ramiro Sr. Medical Center (MHARS-MC), a tertiary government hospital in Ozamiz City. The next is in Mambajao, Camiguin, managed by Camiguin General Hospital; however, the purpose is to transfer this center to Sagay, Camiguin.

The idea of BUCAS, according to Dela Cruz, is to place it far from hospitals so that those who need services will go to the centers closer to their communities instead of the hospitals.

While DOH hospitals manage this initiative, local government units have generously volunteered to contribute significantly towards the construction of the centers.

Currently, there are four local governments in the pipeline that have volunteered to provide lots; one of them is Magsaysay in Misamis Oriental, Bacolod in Lanao del Norte, the Malaybalay local government unit in Bukidnon, and Balo-i in Lanao del Norte. (Jasper Marie O. Rucat/PIA-10)