CITY OF MALOLOS–The Bulacan Medical Center in this city recently inaugurated its Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences and its Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Medicine Section.

The Provincial Public Affairs Office of Bulacan reported that the additional medical facilities are part of the provincial government’s commitment to universal health care for the province’s residents.

Dr. Anna Marie Joy de Leon, head of the newly inaugurated department, said it offers cataract and comprehensive ophthalmology services, retina services, pediatric ophthalmology services, glaucoma services, eye plastic surgery, and refraction and optometry.

The Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences is open Mondays to Fridays, from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm.

Meanwhile, the Department of Health (DOH) is expanding its Bagong Urgent Care and Ambulatory Services (BUCAS) centers in Central Luzon.

DOH Central Luzon Center for Health Development regional director Corazon Flores explained during the sixth episode of the Kapihan sa Bagong Pilipinas of the Philippine Information Agency on Tuesday that the first BUCAS center was inaugurated in Sto. Tomas, Pampanga, in March 2024 and is the first in the country. A second BUCAS Center in Central Luzon was recently established in the City of San Jose Del Monte in Bulacan.

On the other hand, Jose B. Lingad Memorial General Hospital Medical Center chief Monserrat Chichioco explained that the BUCAS concept is designed to ensure all Filipinos, especially the poor, have access to quality healthcare.

“At the BUCAS, we offer services not available in rural health facilities. We bring down services such as laboratory tests, specialist consultations, and urgent care to the community,” Chichioco noted.

Patients now have better access to healthcare because the BUCAS provides medical services that primary care facilities cannot, addressing the challenges posed by the distance to level 1 and level 2 hospitals.

She added that two more BUCAS centers are expected to be opened in Pampanga and pointed out that “We have also included an Animal Bite Treatment Center and a Tuberculosis Directly Observed Treatment Short-course clinic in our BUCAS, where patients can access their maintenance medicine for TB.”

📷 Mon Lazaro