Algarve Central Hospital is considered essential for the region
A petition demanding the construction of the Algarve’s long-promised Central Hospital was delivered to Parliament on Thursday.
Around 10,000 people signed the petition, which was created by former Algarve MP Cristóvão Norte.
“The construction of a new Algarve Central Hospital is an uncontroversial need for the region. (It is) uncontroversial because every government, without an exception, including parties, MPs, mayors, syndicates and others, have underlined that this is a fundamental infrastructure,” Norte said in a statement to the press.
He believes that the Algarve needs “a modern hospital infrastructure” that provides better medical care to patients and attracts and maintains health professionals in the region.
Cristóvão Norte also considers that the establishment of a technical team to launch the bidding process and a monitoring committee for the project, announced in January by the Minister of Health, Manuel Pizarro, is a “first step” from which there can be “no turning back,” recalling the previous laying-of-the-first-stone ceremonies that were not followed up by actual construction.
The current president of the Municipal Assembly of Faro also points out that the University of Algarve’s medical program is “at risk” without the Central Hospital and that it is necessary to improve coordination with primary care and private healthcare institutions if the hospital construction progresses.
