Congress has pledged to provide funds for the Bagong Urgent Care and Ambulatoty Service (BUCAS) centers, Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa said Friday.

The commitment from lawmakers was made after President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. mentioned in his third State of the Nation Address (SONA) the establishment of BUCAS centers that will provide ambulatory medical and surgical care services to poor 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 aired over state-run PTV-4.

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

Herbosa said local government units and lawmakers are helping the DOH to ensure the success of the BUCAS project.

Herbosa said the establishment of BUCAS centers has helped decongest bigger hospitals, noting that the long queues in emergency and outpatient departments “really decreased.”

The BUCAS centers function as a vital intermediary healthcare hub designed to bridge the gap between village health centers and higher-level hospitals.

The project was launched to provide urgent healthcare services and ancillary services like mammogram, magnetic resonance imaging, computer tomography scan, and ultrasound.

The centers also offer outpatient consultations, laboratory tests minor surgeries, and emergency care.

The DOH initially targets the establishment of at least 28 BUCAS centers nationwide to serve around 28 million Filipinos in need of accessible and quality healthcare services.

The first BUCAS center opened in Santo Tomas, Pampanga on March 6 and over 70 centers are now being established in other parts of the country. (PNA)