According to the institution’s president, from this Monday, the new Luís Mendes da Graça Maternity Hospital will begin operating an emergency gynecological care service for pregnant women up to 22 weeks at Santa Maria Hospital.
“We expect changes in the Gynaecological Emergency Service up to 22 weeks of pregnancy, which operates in settings where there is little well-being, whether for the woman, our users, family members or our professionals,” President of the Board of Directors of the Local Health Service of Santa Maria (ULSSM), Carlos Martins, told Lusa.
The capital’s emergency gynecological care and emergency obstetric care for pregnant women up to 22 weeks of pregnancy have always operated without interruption at the Santa Maria Hospital throughout the construction process of the new maternity unit – Maternidade Luís Mendes da Graça, which began in the last quarter of 2023.
According to ULSS, in the first half of 2024, the capital’s emergency department of Santa Maria Hospital treated more than 600 gynecological emergencies and about 200 pregnant women up to 22 weeks.
Carlos Martins explained to Luce that they would take advantage of the fact that the new emergency departments were already operational to move the gynecology department to the 2nd floor (basement), beginning the phased opening of the Luís Mendes da Graça Maternity Hospital, which would open on September 1st.
He also said he was working to open an obstetrics department and a new echocardiography department in gynecology and obstetrics by September 1.
“As we have always said, on September 1st we will open this new renovated space on the 2nd floor, and we also expect to open the new obstetrics and gynecology echocardiography department on the 6th floor. In other words, we will also have mid-August. From the 13th, this new device will be fully modernized to serve our users and our specialists,” said Carlos Martins.
According to the President of ULSSM, this is a “phased opening” of the investments that have been made over the course of the year: “Instead of opening everything on September 1 (…) we expect to open the premises in order to provide better working conditions and therefore better service conditions, as well as to contribute to a better supply of the network, in this case in the field of gynecology and then in the field of obstetrics.”
Health workers will now have “fantastic working conditions” to care for pregnant women up to 22 weeks, he commented, noting that specialists have always worked “in poor conditions” in terms of comfort and working conditions, but “always without any risk and with the safety of women.”
“We were working in temporary conditions due to the work that was being carried out (…) on several floors. This always imposes limitations, and now we will start using what is already in working order to provide the best response,” he said. highlighted.
According to ULSS, the construction work on the new maternity ward at Santa Maria Hospital has been completed within the contractual deadlines, while the publicly announced opening plan remains in place.
A global investment of six million euros has made it possible to renovate the Obstetrics and Gynaecology Emergency Department and build 12 wards, two operating rooms and an examination room in the new maternity ward, with a total of around a thousand square meters of new space to be built.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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