The Hospital of São Gonçalo de Lagos, hospital unit acquired in December 2014 by IMAG, a company with 100% Portuguese capital, and which this year will serve around 100 thousand users, wants to invest in Health Tourism, revealed João Sampaio, executive director of the Hospital and IMAG, in an interview with Sul Informação.
The official, who spoke on the sidelines of the presentation of the Strategic Plan for the 2015-2017 period of this private hospital, added that this commitment to Health Tourism does not involve the creation of its own hotel units ("we believe that there is a sufficient hotel offer in the Algarve", said), but by establishing partnerships with the main tourism and health operators in the region.
«We already have contacts initiated with other entities of Faro and not only that, either at the hotel or at the health level," explained João Sampaio, stressing that the goal is that "the Hospital de São Gonçalo is a promoter of what we think is a scientific and technical standard, so that trust is generated international, so that people can come to this country and, with this fantastic climate, perform their non-urgent surgeries here», namely in terms of «placement of prostheses, ophthalmic and aesthetic surgeries».
The Hospital's executive administrator did not want to reveal the partner entities. "I would rather not do much more without everything being agreed with the other partners, but very soon we will announce these partnerships". Still, he let slip, "many of these partnerships are with hotel entities here in the region of Lagos and Barlavento."
These partners, he explained, "are interested in making a bet with us, so that part of the recovery can be done in this hospital and the rest in a hotel, with conditions of access to leisure and occupation of free time, which, as we know, is half cure. That's added value».
«In the medium term, several initiatives will be proposed to leverage the Algarve's hotel and medical-surgical prestige. We will do everything so that this region, and in particular the Hospital of São Gonçalo de Lagos and our partners, enters the sector's agenda in the European context”, said João Sampaio.
The executive director also pointed out that the hospital unit located in Lagos is adjusting its service offer according to the needs of the region, in a logic of complementarity, not intending to compete with the offer of the National Health Service.
It will also increase the offer of specialties and skills with real need in this region of the country, and bet on attracting foreigners to the Health Tourism sector, enhancing the region's natural and hotel resources.
Another strategic pillar is the approximation to the Algarve population (in particular, Barlavento) and the creation of areas of clinical and surgical differentiation, as well as the creation of the Academia Hospital de São Gonçalo.
One of the first steps in this approach to the population was the establishment of partnerships with the Municipalities of Terras do Infante – Lagos, Aljezur and Vila dos Bispo – in order to ensure easy access to all services and specialties of the hospital by municipal employees and their relatives.
João Sampaio admitted, in statements to the Sul Informação, that "in another phase, this partnership may come to include citizens", namely to respond in areas where the National Health Service is unable to respond, but stressed that the objective is not to "conflict" with the NHS network .
After acquiring, in December 2014, the São Gonçalo de Lagos Hospital from Grupo Lusíadas, IMAG has already invested more than 800 euros in diagnostic and therapeutic equipment, and more than 20 specialized employees, including 10 doctors, have been recruited.
With regard to the equipment, the administrator points out, by way of example, that the unit has «the best surgical microscope in the Algarve» and that it will install, «during the summer, the best CT apparatus in the south of the Tagus», as well as “new Gastroenterology equipment”, for colonoscopy and endoscopy.
But the biggest investment was actually made in “human capital: we have already recruited more than a dozen new doctors to this hospital, more than a dozen new non-medical professionals, we have an almost entirely new management team, people who come from the services public and beyond. We went looking for all the people we thought were key for this project to move forward».
Among the recruited team are the two new clinical directors of the Hospital de São Gonçalo: José Coucello and Armin Moniri, both professors of the Medicine Course at the University of Algarve and previously linked to the National Health Service.
All this bet is already bearing fruit: in the first quarter of this year, 21.191 people were served, and it is expected that the annual number of users will exceed 100, of which around 50% are foreigners.
The Hospital of São Gonçalo de Lagos provides clinical services in the medical and surgical area, both in-patient and out-patient, also providing permanent service, external consultations and complementary means of diagnosis and treatment. The Hospital will also invest in differentiated care in the cardiovascular, pediatric and gynecology areas, carrying out medical-surgical procedures in partnership with European universities.
Currently, it offers 30 medical specialties and valences, emergencies, and 28 inpatient beds.
It is aimed at the entire population, is accredited in the SIGIC network (to respond to surgical waiting lists), and has agreements with most insurance companies and health subsystems, namely ADSE (since April).
«Currently, 51% of our customers are not Portuguese. But the idea is to bring the population of the area to the hospital", reinforces João Sampaio, who recalls that "a market study we carried out indicated that the population of Lagos and neighboring areas considered the hospital as being for people with superior means, segment A, or for foreigners'.
“We want to show that this is not the case, that this is a unit open to everyone. Right now, we do MRIs at the same price as Faro, although we don't have the equipment here, taking people and bringing them. We do not want people to be in a less central area to have different access to health care," he exemplified in his conversation with the Sul Informação.
Given the tourist characteristics of the region, and the profile of the users who visit the Hospital de São Gonçalo de Lagos, the doctors and nurses are fluent in foreign languages and all the members of the clinical management speak fluent English.
However, and within the scope of strengthening ties with the population, the Hospital's mobile unit has already come into operation, with the objective of providing primary health care to the Algarve population, namely in the interior of the region. But during the summer, you will also be on the beaches.
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