A new mental health unit will be built in the Casa de São João de Deus in 2024. The unit will have a 40-bed capacity, be divided into 20 rooms and will cost around 3.100 million euros, funded by the PRR.
In an announcement, Eduardo Lemos, Institution Director confirmed:
“We will have a 40 beds unit allowing us to provide continuous care for acute mental health patients who, given their clinical and social needs, will need to remain here until they are ready to re-enter the community.”
“The cost associated with continued care in hospital units is more than 300 euros per day and unaffordable to many. This way we can provide excellent health care at a cost that does not waste the taxpayer’s money!”
Challenges of new drugs
For his part, José Manuel Rodrigues, president of the Legislative Assembly of Madeira, warned of the dangers and challenges of new drugs. “We have to continue this work because there are new challenges, particularly in the area of drug addictions. We have to meet this challenge together with the Regional Health System and work to overcome the problems that today’s society and families face.”
The São João de Deus Health Centre currently has 322 hospitalized patients, including 30 individuals undergoing the facility’s alcohol treatment programme, and a further 20 are under ‘Bloom observation.’
Two hundred employees work at the facility. All patients are referred to the unit by the Regional Health Service, and there are no waiting lists.
The event was attended by the President of Madeira, Miguel Albuquerque, who stressed the importance of centres such as the Casa de São João de Deus in the provision of long-term health care which relieved the burden of such cases on the island’s hospitals.
Samantha Gannon
info at madeira-weekly.com
