Secretary of State for Health accompanied the provision of a vehicle to the CHL’s UHD by Grupo NOV
News date: 2 June 2020
«If there’s a time when the importance of home hospitalization was proven, it was during this pandemic» declared António Sales, Secretary of State for Health, today, as part of the signing of a protocol between Grupo NOV and the Hospital Center of Leiria (CHL).
This was a good example of reorganization with 85% of infected patients being treated at home », declared António Sales, Secretary of State for Health today, as part of the signing of a protocol between Grupo NOV and the Hospital Center of Leiria ( CHL), for the offer of a light passenger car by LPM - Comércio Automóvel, SA (company of Grupo NOV) to the Home Hospitalization Unit. The ceremony took place this Tuesday, June 2nd, and was also attended by members of the CHL Board of Directors, chaired by Licínio de Carvalho, the team of the Home Hospitalization Unit and the President of the Board of Directors from LPM, Joaquim Paulo Conceição, among other elements of Grupo NOV.
«There is nothing more pleasant to see than the civil society mobilizing around noble causes like this», shared António Sales, regarding Grupo NOVs initiative to support UHD, considering that «this is not the time to take stock, it is time to act, give answers and that is what is being done with this service ». The Secretary of State for Health pointed out that "the CHL has guided its provision of services by valuing its professional and this is another milestone in this valuation", taking the opportunity to thank the dedication of all health professionals during the pandemic : «They were the vaccine we needed before this foreign body that entered our lives».
Joaquim Paulo Conceição said that this initiative is the recognition of merit due to CHL, for the support provided to the communities in its area of influence, the commitment and professionalism of all its collaborators in the search for proximity and humanism », and believes that« humanization of these services is a trend that will grow ». Speaking of the importance of the work developed by CHL health professionals, the chairman of the LPM Board of Directors recognized that “it is a stressful job, however, this car with its relaxing properties, will work as an anxiolytic, to the point of become addictive », he joked.
«Today we are not talking about COVID, but this new challenge also contributes to highlight the increased opportunity of Home Hospitalization», recognized Licínio de Carvalho. "We are here to talk about the future, about the new service which we worked hard for, and in this context it was possible to associate an important business group in our region and count on their respective collaboration in providing essential support to Home Hospitalization", said the president of the CHL Board of Directors, praising "the well-known spirit of collaboration and help with the community, translated into various social support initiatives of Grupo NOV".
«CHL invested in this project about 70 thousand euros, of which 37 thousand were for adaptation works and 33 thousand euros in equipment for resourcing the Unit», revealed Licínio de Carvalho, admitting that «the circumstances of the crisis that we are experiencing further accentuate our responsibility to make this bet and this offer a virtuous investment, with social and technical return for our patients and for CHL ». The chairman of the CHL Board of Directors also considered that “today, symbolically, we are meeting once again the strategic objective of growth and development of CHL, and therefore of the SNS. Home Hospitalization, along with outpatient care is a privileged model of hospital response that seeks to reduce the negative impacts that classic hospitalization has, precisely ». The new CHL of UHD, is already in operation and consists of a hospital care model for acute patients with high complexity pathologies, which are characterized by the possibility of providing care at home.
The UHD aims to contribute to humanizing health care, offering differentiated hospital-level treatments in the comfort of patients' homes, reducing the infection rate of complications related to hospital settings, and bringing the hospital closer to the community. Promoting the patient's functional recovery and autonomy within his family and encouraging the family's active participation in the provision of care, are also part of the objectives assumed for this Unit. This alternative care to conventional CHL hospitalization will create 10 inpatient beds at home for the treatment of 160 patients by the end of the year and is expected to expand to 15 beds in 2021, to treat about 570 patients. The Unit will operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, guaranteeing the entire care process of the patient from admission to discharge, and is provided by five doctors, eight nurses and a technical assistant, and will be supported by all CHL services, in particular Social, Pharmaceutical and Nutrition.