The new equipment, which the Minister of Health visited, will improve the response in these areas.
The Minister of Health, Manuel Pizarro, inaugurated the Vagos Sol Family Health Unit and the Soto Río Family Health Unit, in Agueda, as well as the rehabilitation of their building, and witnessed the beginning of the construction of the new Angia Health Centre, in Albergaria Velha. The visit to these municipalities in the Central Region took place on Tuesday 26 September, where it was possible to observe on the ground the investment being made to provide more local care to the population.
“This day allows us to show the work we do in the National Health Service,” the Minister of Health began by saying, in Vagos, during his visit to the new USF. Manuel Pizarro welcomed the team’s commitment and work and emphasized that it would be a priority to rehabilitate USF facilities to be able to accommodate more users and more skills. The implementation of expansion works in the Souza unit was another commitment that was highlighted, moments before the signing of the commitment to decentralization of competencies in the health field, between the Ministry of Health and the Vagos City Council.
In Agueda, the investment included expanding the building, creating new areas and resolving some existing problems. The investment, with a total value of more than $1.5 million, included expanding the building and creating new areas. The Agueda Health Center building has a surface area of 1,235 square metres, and has now been expanded by 372 square metres, and also has a suite on the top floor of 255 square metres, which has been maintained. This work was supported by community funds within the framework of the Regional Operational Program of Centro 2020.
The administration areas, medical offices and waiting rooms have been modified, with wider spaces and more efficient transportation conditions, in addition, with the expansion, the health center will contain more and larger offices. New spaces were introduced, namely offices for psychology, nutritionist, oral health and social assistance. It will also contain, among other things, a therapeutic gym, staff room, laundry therapy space, garment therapy and a wound/diabetic foot room.
“SNS is indispensable for the Portuguese. There is no alternative,” the Health Minister stressed, recalling that the NHS is at its highest productivity ever, whether in consultations or surgeries. “We also have an additional budget of 56% in just seven years,” he stressed. “, stressing that financing must be accompanied by a reorganization that removes barriers between different levels of care and strengthens primary health care.
“Primary health care is the key point of health care, in a virtuous combination of proximity and quality,” the government official stressed, adding that strengthening these units will also make it possible to increase the training capacity of young doctors in the NHS.
During his various visits, Manuel Pizarro praised the role of local authorities in ensuring better health for all citizens. “We are growing allies of local authorities in defending the health of the population,” he said, stressing that the government will continue to invest in family health units and in disseminating the model of local health units.
The day concluded with a celebration that marked the beginning of the construction of the new Beira Fuga health unit in Angea, Albergaria Velha. The work, which involves an investment of €900,000, will improve the capacity to respond to a world of 7,500 users in the southern region of the municipality of Albergaria Avilha (Anjiga, São João de Lori, Frosos and Cherubim). As well as from some neighboring municipalities. Once again, concluding his intervention, the Minister emphasized that the path being followed in the region is largely due to the commitment and leadership of teams such as those in the health center that will now be renovated.
