The Algarve region may have a reference Cancer Center, which will allow the local population affected by cancer to be treated closer to home, without the need to make frequent trips to the Lisbon Institute of Oncology (IPO).
In her speech during the Territory Conferences last week in Portimão, the chairman of the board of directors of the Centro Hospitalar e Universitário do Algarve (CHUA), Ana Varges Gomes, confirmed that “we are committed and competing for funding to build a Central Hospital of Oncology for the south”.
The facility would be situated next to the space where the future Hospital Central do Algarve is expected to be built, in order to be able to connect easily with the main hospital unit. In addition to the treatment and surgery aspects, the center will also have a research unit, which can contribute to “developing new technologies and therapies”.
One of the problems that most affects the National Health Service (SNS) in the Algarve is the difficulty in convincing doctors to come to the region. To alleviate the problem, Ana Varges Gomes suggests two things.
First, hospitals should be equipped with state-of-the-art equipment and facilities, where health professionals can enjoy working. "The creation of the aforementioned Oncological Center will contribute to this, as will the construction of a new hospital in the region. There are several other applications for funding in progress, some of which are in the final phase, which will make it possible to move in that direction."
Secondly, Ana Varges Gomes says "we are working is to contribute to creating practical conditions for health professionals to choose the region, such as the provision of housing and the creation of a day care centers in the Algarve, where medical professionals can place their children."
