SNS will have seven new local health posts

The Executive Council announced that seven new local health posts will be added in the Northern Region and the regions of Lisbon and the Tagus Valley, bringing the total number in the country to 27, providing health measures for more than half of the population.

The Executive Directorate of the National Health Service (DE-SNS) said in a statement that work has begun on “the preparation of business plans for seven new local health units (ULS)”, noting that the Centro Hospitalar Universitário de São João, along with groups of health centers ( ACES) in Porto Oriental and Maia/Valongo will be the first ULS to integrate a university hospital center.

In the north, ULS Sao João, Vila Nova de Gaia/Espinho, Barcelos, Dan Lafoins (Tondela and Viseu) and Baixo Mondego (Figueira da Foz) will be created.

In the area of ​​Lisbon and the Tagus Valley, local health posts will be established for the Tagus estuary (Vila Franca de Xira) and the Middle Tagus.

The SNS Executive Board, chaired by Fernando Araujo, recalls that the business plans for the 12 local health centers are at an advanced stage of preparation.

The remaining eight, which complete the processes before the end of April, are the local health centers of Alentejo Central, Arrábida, Almada Seixal, Leziria, Arco Ribeirinho, Povoa de Varzim/Vila do Conde on the Middle Avenue de Braga.

Thus, the National Health Service will have 27 local health posts that will provide health care to more than 50% of the Portuguese population, which, according to DE-SNS, represents a “deep dimension in creating planning and organizing tools”. social network, with corresponding health benefits, through optimization and integration of care, proximity to care, autonomy of management, strengthening of primary health care, always with a focus on users”, emphasizing that “the articulation with municipalities and the role of local self-government will be strengthened this strategy.”

“This approach will define the reorganization of the organic architecture of the social network institutions, which will comprehensively take care of care at the level of primary health care and hospital care,” he says, believing that “it is essential to promote integration, with greater proximity to institutions, in the same geographic area, improving the participation of citizens, communities, professionals and municipalities in defining, monitoring and evaluating health policy, maximizing SNS access and effectiveness.”

The business plan will include an analysis of the clinical and financial implications of this form of organization, providing improved health through care integration, proximity of solutions, greater autonomy for new institutions, promotion of primary health care. such as the backbone of the system, providing the necessary tools and resources for its mission, he adds.

“Ten years after the creation of the last SHA, we are now witnessing a revolution in this process, led by the DE-SNA, which will oversee the completion of the regional health directorates (RHA), which should be completed by the end of 2023,” he emphasizes.