𝐁𝐔𝐂𝐀𝐒 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐌 𝐄𝐗𝐏𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐒: 𝐁𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐀𝐘𝐀𝐍 𝐃𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐂𝐓 𝐇𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐈𝐓𝐀𝐋 𝐍𝐎𝐖 𝐎𝐅𝐅𝐄𝐑𝐒 𝐒𝐔𝐑𝐆𝐈𝐂𝐀𝐋 𝐒𝐄𝐑𝐕𝐈𝐂𝐄𝐒
The Bantayan District Hospital (BDH) can now go beyond emergency care and perform life-saving and scheduled surgeries in its own operating room.
These capabilities are the results of an amendment to the existing Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) signed by the Cebu Provincial Government with the Department of Health–Central Visayas (DOH-7) and the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC) under the BUCAS program.
Gov. Pamela Baricuatro inked the amended agreement with DOH-7 Regulations, Licensing, and Enforcement Division chief Dr. Annessa Patindol and VSMMC chief Dr. Gerardo Aquino during a ceremony at the Capitol Social Hall on Thursday, January 22.
The signing was witnessed by Board Member Dr. Stanley Caminero, chair of the committee on public health; BDH chief Dr. James Nicolas Najaro; and Capitol Piso Public Health Consultant Dr. Nikki Catalan.
Dr. Catalan described the agreement as “a critical milestone” in strengthening health care delivery in the northern part of the province.
“This partnership formally integrates national, tertiary, and provincial health systems into one coordinated surgical referral and service network,” Dr. Catalan said. “It ensures that Bantayan District Hospital is no longer limited to stabilizing patients in the emergency room, but is now empowered to deliver life-saving and elective surgical services through the activation of its operating room.”
BUCAS, or Bagong Urgent Care and Ambulatory Service centers, is a DOH program intended to bridge gaps in the country’s healthcare system by providing urgent medical, surgical, and dental care to underserved communities. These centers act as primary care hubs that decongest hospitals by offering preventive, diagnostic, and curative services while referring patients to higher-level facilities when needed.
Under the agreement, DOH-7 will coordinate with the Capitol on implementing and monitoring the BUCAS program, augment health human resources, and ensure proper licensing of the BDH.
VSMMC, for its part, will expand its co-managed services with the island hospital (particularly in emergency and operating departments), deploy qualified health personnel, and provide the necessary specialists, support staff, supplies, and resources to BDH.
The expanded partnership upgrades BDH’s operating room capabilities to perform major cutting specialty procedures consistent with its DOH category level, reinforcing Governor Baricuatro’s priority agenda of improving healthcare services across all 16 Capitol-run provincial and district hospitals—because for her, every Cebuano deserves access to quality care, no matter where they live. | CAPITOL PIO
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