The employees of the Algarve Biomedical Center (ABC) will demonstrate this Wednesday, July 20, at the Centro Hospitalar Universitário do Algarve (CHUA), in Faro, due to the controversy surrounding these two entities.
In a note sent to the press, the employees say that they will «express their concern and their displeasure in the face of the very serious situation that the consortium is going through, and which may soon jeopardize the future of the Algarve Biomedical Center».
According to the officials, “more than 120 qualified jobs are at risk, as well as more than 80 million euros in projects concluded, with a clear impact on the scientific and public health ecosystem in the Algarve and in the country”.
According to the officials, “the continuity of the project is conditioned by the breach of trust in the current direction of ABC, caused by two lawsuits brought by the Centro Hospitalar Universitário do Algarve (CHUA) to the president of the Algarve Biomedical Center, Dr. Nuno Marques, limiting and hindering institutional relations and the continuity of this project, with an impact on the region and the country».
Officials list some of the initiatives that are “at risk”: “screening and testing actions within the scope of COVID-19 in the Algarve region and at national level; the operation of the SNS24 line (since the employees of the consortium guarantee more than 1000 hours of online service a day), as well as projects concluded with the European Medicines Agency (EMA), with the Algarve Regional Operational Program (CRESC Algarve) , among other structural agreements signed with the CCDR and other partners».
“Also at risk are the development of the National Observatory on Aging and the Algarve Active Aging, among many other national strategic projects”, they add.
At a time when the country is discussing the chronic problem of the lack of doctors, with a special focus on the fragility of the Algarve region, ABC workers reinforce the «brutal impact of the instability of the consortium, with evident consequences in the process of training and qualification of health professionals who, in the face of the impasse, could have a setback of decades, with even worse consequences for the region».
Revealing that they wish to be part of «the solution and not the problem», the workers appeal «for consultation between the members of the consortium», and also for the «continuity» of the current direction of ABC.
Pointing the finger at the «lack of dialogue», the workers demand a resolution to the impasse that has lasted for more than a year and that «weakens the future of healthcare provided in the Algarve, with a clear and aggravated impact on the community and all those who daily need to go to hospitals in the Algarve region».
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