A new, more efficient magnetic resonance device that allows for other types of examinations, 'state-of-the-art' equipment to ensure the proper functioning of the Via Verde Coronária, to which works are added to prepare for the arrival of a new Computed Tomography machine (TAC). The Algarve Hospital Center (CHA) showed this Thursday some of the investments it is making in its unit of Faro, which aim to “increase quality and reduce waiting times”, but also save money and save lives.
Today, July 20, journalists were invited to get to know the CHA's new equipment up close, one of which is already operational and the other about to be put into use. At about the same time, the Council of Ministers approved the long-announced creation of the University Hospital Center of the Algarve (CHUA), a measure that Prime Minister António Costa he had assured that it would be taken very soon, during his visit to the Algarve, on Monday.
In the Cardiology service, more precisely for the Laboratory of Hemodynamics, a cornerstone of the Via Verde Coronária, the upgrade of fundamental equipment for the work of this department of the Hospital de Faro, where people with acute myocardial infarction (aka heart attack) are directed.
This is a place where many lives are saved, as "about 200 urgent patients per year" pass through there, who depend on the hemodynamic equipment that exists there.
The Board of Directors of CHA invested around 430 thousand euros «in the rehabilitation and updating of the current technological platform to the latest technology on the market, presenting better specifications in terms of thermal capacity and dissipation rate, justifying better performance during the performance of exams, an image with higher resolution and eliminating the need to stop during exams, to cool the ampoule».
Although it is a upgrade, it is «a totally refurbished device, it is as if it were new», of a «next-generation model from Siemens, being the third installed in the world».
“The device we had before this one was already very old and, after a few years, the company said that it no longer guaranteed replacement parts. As this is not like a car, you find parts there in any stand, there was a risk of waiting months in the event of a breakdown. The population of the Algarve and much of Baixo Alentejo could not be subjected to this», illustrated the intervention cardiologist Victor Brandão, responsible for the laboratory.
This is because it is a fundamental piece of equipment for laboratory work, which allows “drastically lowering the risk of life for users”.
Practically completed is the upgrade of 1.5 Tesla Resonance, an investment of 400 thousand euros. According to Jorge Pereira, coordinator of the Radiology service at the unit of Faro of the CHA, "the magnet will be activated today and tomorrow [July 21] we should already be able to do tests".
Also in this case, it is a piece of equipment that has been renovated, but in such a profound way that it is practically new. "We now have 18 channels instead of four, which allows us to be faster and carry out other types of exams, namely Pediatrics and agitated users", he said.
According to Joaquim Ramalho, chairman of the CHA's Board of Directors, this increases quality and reduces waiting times, especially because, taking into account that this is a “large capacity” and more efficient equipment, “dead times are reduced”.
There are still ongoing works that will allow the installation of a new Computed Tomography (CT) device in the Radiology service of the Hospital de Faro, which will join the existing one in this health unit.
This is an investment for the future, argue those responsible for the CHA, whose acquisition, despite having a considerable cost of half a million euros, will save "more than 300 thousand euros per year" in external acquisitions.
Currently, the Faro unit of the Centro Hospitalar do Algarve has only one “16-slice” CT device. This means that when this machine breaks down, the hospital has to resort to external services, namely the private sector, to carry out the tests. This, of course, has costs.
The new Computerized Tomography (CT) equipment, to be installed at the end of 2017, is a state-of-the-art device, with 128 cuts, and will motivate an investment of around 500 thousand euros, which will allow «the performance of special exams in the areas of Pediatrics, Angiology and Cardiology, which, from that date, can be performed at CHAlgarve, being simultaneously the only equipment of this new generation in the Algarve».
In addition, it will prevent the CHA from having to resort to examinations carried out abroad, namely during the downtime of the other 16-slice CT equipment currently in operation, which represents an annual saving of around 300 euros. “In June, we had already committed 390 thousand euros in external exams”, illustrated Joaquim Ramalho.
After the ongoing adaptation works are completed, which should take place by the end of the year, a CT scanner with 128 slices will be acquired, which will allow «the performance of special examinations in the areas of Pediatrics, Angiology and Cardiology, which from that date can be performed at CHA, being simultaneously the only equipment of this new generation in the Algarve».
These equipments were acquired under a three-year investment plan, which will have an amount of 19 million euros. The largest slice, 11 million, should be applied as early as 2017. At the moment, there are already «5 million in processes», some «already concluded, others in the process of acquisition». According to Joaquim Ramalho, there are still «investments of 3 million waiting for the guardianship's green light».
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