Local leaders from Alenquer, Arruda dos Vinhos, Azambuja, Benavente, and Vila Franca de Xira have sent a letter to the Minister of Health, Ana Paula Martins, reiterating their urgent request for a meeting to discuss the operations of the Hospital de Vila Franca de Xira (HVFX) in the Lisbon district.
In remarks to the Lusa news agency, the Mayor of Vila Franca de Xira, Fernando Paulo Ferreira, clarified that the mayors from the five municipalities served by HVFX have previously attempted to secure meetings with the minister without success.
“We have been asking for meetings since the previous government, which had the same minister, both individually and collectively, but the minister has not made time for us. We represent about 250,000 people, and we believe it’s important,” the socialist mayor emphasized.
Fernando Paulo Ferreira stated that the meeting aims to address several healthcare issues, particularly concerning HVFX, which has already seen its pediatric and gynecological emergencies closed on weekends.
“We justifiably fear that this strategy of closing obstetric emergencies might conceal the government’s intention to shut down the hospital’s maternity ward due to the decreased number of births that will inevitably result from these closures,” he noted.
Regarding the situation in Vila Franca de Xira, the mayor identified the shortage of family doctors and the need for investment in health centers as major issues.
“We conducted a very detailed survey following the decentralization of powers and found that around three million euros are needed to make up for years of neglected maintenance by the Regional Health Administration,” he added.
As an example, Fernando Paulo Ferreira mentioned Póvoa de Santa Iria, where the local government is willing to proceed with constructing a new health center at a total cost of six million euros, but the three million allocated in the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR) is “insufficient”.
Lusa reached out to the Ministry of Health for a response to this request from the local leaders but received no reply.
