The new Southern Reference Oncology Centre, which will be located in Parque das Cidades, close to the Algarve Stadium, should be completed and operational «at the end of next year».
The announcement was made on the afternoon of Thursday, April 13, during the signing of the protocol between the Association of Municipalities Loulé/Faro and the Centro Hospitalar Universitário do Algarve (CHUA) for the transfer of the land where this equipment will be built, which will make it possible to bring together, in a single physical space, the possibility of diagnoses, treatments and research in the field of oncology.
According to Ana Varges Gomes, chairman of the Board of Directors of CHUA, «the specifications have already been approved», and the competition, which will be international, «has already constituted a jury and is ready to be launched».
This is a project that involves a total investment of 14 million euros (40% funded by CHUA and the remainder by Regional Program Algarve 2030) and which will make it possible to respond annually to «two to three thousand new patients» with cancer.
The future equipment, deployed in an area of around 5.500 square meters, will integrate the National Health Service and will bring together all the oncology area's valences so that the patient does not need to leave the region (as is currently the case).
«This Center will be a solution that does not exist, where we will have everything integrated, from diagnosis to treatment and follow-up of patients, together with research. It is an innovative project, which did not exist until now in the southern region and which also allows for a component of humanization of care, since it will have space for patients to stay during the course of treatments», said the president of CHUA to journalists, referring that Every year there are close to 1.500 cancer patients diagnosed in the Algarve.
Ana Varges Gomes also believes that the new Southern Reference Oncological Center will allow «to retain more people, bring in more doctors and more researchers», and treat people not only from the Algarve but also from Alentejo and Spain.
The space will bring together various specialties, such as medical oncology, surgery, radioncology, nutrition, chronic pain, physical and rehabilitation medicine, palliative care and social support, so that the patient, in a single trip, can carry out his treatment in a safe way. integrated and multidisciplinary.
During the signing of the protocol, Rogério Bacalhau, president of the Chamber of Faro, reinforced that «this Cancer Center is something that the Algarve has needed for a long time» and was very pleased to see the project move forward.
The same happened to Vítor Aleixo, mayor of the neighboring Loulé Town Hall: «what we did here today was to take a first step in a process that aims to provide the Algarve with this equipment that will be a reference in the field of cancer therapies. I think people will be satisfied and happy, in the expectation that, at the first step, others will join and that this equipment will quickly be implemented».
The Loulé mayor also made a point of reinforcing that the CHUA will be responsible for the construction, maintenance and operation of all the technical and human resources of the Center and that «ownership and operation cannot, under any circumstances, be transferred to third parties outside the NHS”.
The new Southern Reference Oncology Center will be built in the vicinity of the future Central Hospital of the Algarve, «so that we can then make the connection between one building and the other», explained Ana Varges Gomes.
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