The Reuse, Recycle and Include Party (RIR) considers that the reconversion of the Marmeleiros Hospital into an Integrated Care Unit exposes the incoherence and lack of political honesty that have marked the debate around the sale of the Dr. Nélio Mendonça Hospital.
“The Regional Government is now demonstrating that it’s possible to transform a hospital unit into a public resource for managing clinical and social discharges, adding hundreds of beds, coordinating health and social services, and ensuring ongoing temporary care. This is exactly the kind of solution that was dismissed in discussions about the Dr. Nélio Mendonça Hospital, citing technical impracticality, high costs, and the supposed unsuitability of the building.” States Liana Reis, Regional Coordinator of the RIR.
For the RIR, “in view of these facts, it becomes evident that the true criterion of decisions is not the response to social needs or the defence of the public interest, but the financial and real estate value of the buildings. The hospital with the greatest potential for sale and financial income is destined for disposal; what does not represent a significant business is maintained to respond to social problems that the Government itself recognises as serious and structural.”
The RIR reaffirms that the problem of so-called “high society” is real, persistent, and widely known. What is not acceptable is that these situations are used as an argument only when it is convenient, while opting for solutions that prioritise money over people. The dignity of the elderly and the sustainability of the health system cannot be subordinated to the logic of the real estate market.
Marmeleiros Hospital will be converted into an Integrated Rear Unit, intended to ensure the continuity of care temporarily and mitigate the so-called ‘social discharges’. Micaela Freitas stresses that the reconversion will allow for the “promotion of active aging and the dignity of the elderly and the dependent person.”
According to the RIR, this proves that there are solutions, models, and a legal framework to create public backup responses. What is lacking is not technical capacity, it is the political will to give up the financial inflow in favour of the collective interest.”
Currently, there are 1,301 people residing in nursing home care facilities, with a further 1,332 people on the waiting lists. The article did not state whether this included private nursing homes.
Samantha Gannon
info at madeira-weekly.com
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