The Northeast Local Health Unit (ULS) reported Monday that the maternity ward of the Bragança maternity ward may close “a few days” this week due to the specialist’s medical leave.
In a statement sent to newsrooms, ULS begins by stating that “scheduled and urgent activity of the obstetrics and gynecology service is operating.”
“However, due to an on-duty specialist’s sick leave, on some days of this week there may be potential limitations in urgent care, and it is necessary to activate the emergency plan, which means that the blocking of delivery will be closed. These days,” he adds.
In these cases, ULS do Nordeste explains, users who turn to the emergency services by their own means “will be directed, after medical observation and if the clinical situation so warrants, to the reference hospital unit within the scope of the National Health Service”.
The nearest maternity hospital from Bragança is Villa Real, which is about an hour away.
Bragança maternity hospital is the only one in the Trás-os-Montes region and is more than an hour away from part of the 12 municipalities in the region, with cases, such as Freixo de Espada à Cinta, taking about an hour and a half.
Although most of the area’s population is closer to Bragança, there are municipalities such as Freixo de Espada à Cinta, Torre de Moncorvo, Vila Flor, Alfândega da Fé, or Mirandela that lie at identical distances, in terms of travel time, from Bragança. And a real villa.
In the case of the municipality of Carrazeda de Ansiães, despite belonging to the province of Bragança, the journey to Vila Real is shorter.
For other municipalities such as Mogadouro, Miranda do Douro, Vinhais or Vimioso, the distance to Vila Real is from Bragança.