The authors of the petition “New Algarve Central Hospital now!” will be heard today, Monday 3rd June, at 5pm, in the Assembly of the Republic, Lisbon.
The petition, which gathered 9651 signatures, has the now deputy Cristóvão Norte as its first signatory, who led the process of collecting signatures during the year 2023, with deputy Jorge Botelho as rapporteur appointed by the Health Commission. The petition will be discussed at a plenary meeting after hearing the petitioners.
According to the petition, the postponement of the construction of the Algarve Central Hospital, "is highly harmful to the interests of the region and the Algarve, but also of the country, because it disregards the importance of a new hospital to attract and retain human resources, in particular doctors of specialties from which the region suffers chronically; ignores the importance of responding to accelerated demographic growth and a notable evolution of tourism, which increasingly considers factors such as security and available health care; devalues the obligation to offer greater differentiation in the clinical services provided and, therefore, places the region in greater dependence on other hospitals, particularly located in Lisbon.
Patients must be able to be treated in the region and this lack an Algarve Central Hospitalof contradicts the commitment of medical teaching at the University of Algarve, which lacks an academic center of excellence that strengthens the conditions for teaching and research development. Therefore, it is still paradoxical to postulate the ideas of research centers and not invest in the infrastructures capable of carrying them out".
The petitioners trust that the new Government will take the necessary steps to complete the Algarve Central Hospital.
