Ponta Delgada hospital will remain closed until further notice
The Azores regional government has declared a state of public calamity following the major fire that erupted at Ponta Delgada Hospital on Saturday.
The intention behind the declaration is that it will “speed up procedures” to allow what is the largest Azorean public health unit to return to treating the archipelago’s populations.
In the meantime, hospital Divino Espírito Santo has been evacuated of all its patients.
When the fire broke out, there was a total of 333 patients in the hospital – some of which were seriously/critically ill. These were transferred to the nearby CUF (private) hospital, while less critical patients were moved to various health centres.
Dialysis patients (30) were transferred to Horta Hospital, on Faial island, and another 26 patients were transferred to the Santo Espírito Hospital on Terceira island (an island currently experiencing a series of earthquakes).
Two pregnant women were initially due to be transferred to Madeira today (this has since increased to include 63 other patients), as the implications of this fire have truly rocked local communities.
As of last night, following two inspections of the fire damage, there was no forecast for resuming normal operations, regional secretary for health and social security Mónica Seidi told Lusa.
According to reports, the fire started on Saturday morning in ‘the electrical transformer substation’.
Talking to Observador radio as firefighters battled to control the damage, Mónica Seidi said: “‘We know it’s an irreversible breakdown, the central switchboard has been completely destroyed. This means that in the next 24 to 48 hours we can’t guarantee the normal functioning of the hospital. I even fear that this situation is guaranteed to take several more days.”
This fear has since developed into the realisation that repairs will almost certainly take a great deal longer than a few days, hence the declaration of public calamity.
As for contingency arrangements for the rest of the population that may require hospital services, health centres are being kept open 24-hours a day, and urgent situations are being dealt with by CUF hospital in nearby Lagoa, for which authorities acknowledge they are extremely thankful.
