The new health building in Loulé, which will house the first university health center in the Algarve, should be ready by the end of the year, although the work's scheduled completion date is February 2025.
This news was announced on Thursday, February 1, during a visit to the space, as part of City Day.
In this building – whose construction began in September 2022 and invested about 5 million euros, 65% financed by the City Council of Loulé and the remaining 35% by the central administration – the first university health center in Loulé will operate. Community Care Unit, new facilities for the Lauroy Family Health Unit (currently operating in containers) and also the new headquarters of the Algarve Central Health Center (ACES) cluster (covering the municipalities of Albufeira, Loulé, São Bras de Alportel, Faro and Olhão).
Vitor Aleixo, Mayor of Loulé, gave “a very positive assessment” of this work.
“It is a public investment in the medical care provided to the population within the National Health Service, so that it can be provided in the best possible conditions, with new equipment and more skills. The current building is old, and does not attract healthcare professionals, and now, with this new building, things will change radically. People who need to use these services will receive better service and professionals will be happier working on equipment that responds to modern healthcare needs, he said. South information.
According to the mayor, it should also be noted that the current facilities at the Luli Health Center “will undergo an extensive renovation.”
«The remaining building has a continuing demand that is going very well and has PRR financing of up to 800 thousand euros, but the contract for the rehabilitation and renovation of the facilities will cost around 1 million and 200 thousand, with the difference guaranteed by the municipal budget. Therefore, today nothing outdated or old-fashioned will remain,” assures President Luli.
In addition to the visit to the construction of this new building of the health center in Loulé, the city day included the visit to the construction of the 2nd roundabout and the 64 buildings in Cluna, the rehabilitation of the municipal quarter, the expansion of the Eng´ Duarte Pacheco school and the expansion and redesign of the municipal helipad: everything happens within the deadlines specified.
Considering the housing issue as “one of the biggest problems not only in Loulé, but also in Portugal”, Vitor Aleixo took the opportunity to highlight that these 64 residences, currently under construction, are part of the 2,400 solutions that the municipality must find by 2030 to ensure Adequate housing.
The urbanization work in Clona, which is “on schedule and should be completed within 15 months”, consists of four buildings with a total of 64 apartments: 23 T1, 28 T2, 12 T3, one T4 and two spaces allocated for commercial purposes. Uses.
According to the mayor of Loulé, affordable rental regulations for these properties have already been published, but nomination competitions have not yet opened, and the date on which this will happen has not been set.
Another project visited this City Day was the expansion of EB 2,3 by architect Duarte Pacheco, which will now contain eight additional rooms, a teaching kitchen, changing rooms and a support room.
This project is scheduled to be completed by the end of the year and its cost is approximately one million and 500 thousand euros.
This quarter, the expansion and redesign of the municipal helipad is expected to be completed, which, with the latest works, will be able to receive a maximum of eight aircraft (more than double the capacity it already had).
The helipad is located next to the new regional headquarters of INEM (National Institute for Medical Emergency), where the Urgent Patient Direction Center (CODU) will operate – a building that, according to Vitor Aleixo, should be opened very soon.
On this City Day, Mayor Loulé also took the opportunity to highlight the municipality's commitment to “the greatest challenge we all face, which is adaptation to climate change.”
Vitor Aleixo pointed out that Lolli has, in the whole country, the first municipal climate action plan approved in accordance with the law, and there are data that already show what has been achieved at this level.
“In 2019, our unbilled water percentage was approximately 41%. 41% of the water has entered the system and has not been billed. In 2023, only the provisional figures, which I'm sure will support it, show that we have reached 27%. We've done a huge amount of work. The results are starting to show, and if we add this reduction in unbilled water to the excellent performance of municipal companies, we are already below 20%. “This places us, according to classification criteria, as a very good municipality in managing water resources.”
For Vitor Aleixo, “this can only be our way.” “We continue to make significant investments in the network and have contingency plans in place to address drought. This is Lolly's situation. He faces his problems and works with all focus and energy to solve them.
the pictures: Mariana Carrico | South information
