A 2010 public tender to construct the new Hospital de Lisboa Oriental is on the brink of being cancelled for being “too financially risky”. The winning consortium has already threatened to sue the government for compensation.
In September, the new Lisbon hospital project was deemed “too financially risky” by a commission led by former Health Minister Luís Filipe Pereira, who concluded that neither the timing nor the conditions for its execution were right for a government that needs to comply with a bailout programme. One of the risks quoted by the commission that evaluated the project related to the bank guarantees imposed by the lender, the European Investment Bank.
Thus it was agreed that although construction of the hospital was still an intention of the Ministry of Health, a new tender would have to be launched in 2014 to ensure the state would not be exposed to further financial struggles.
According to Público newspaper, consortium group Salveo (Soares da Costa, MSF and Alves Ribeiro) is contesting this decision and demands compensation for the expenses incurred to submit its application, which involved a project signed by respected Portuguese architect Eduardo Souto Moura. However, the compensation amount was not disclosed.
The consortium also questioned the legitimacy of the Luís Filipe Pereira-led commission when a previous commission had given the green light to the tender conditions in 2010.
In a recent interview with Expresso newspaper, Filipe Pereira actually said that the hospital project could have been submitted for EU funds, rather than entering into a public-private partnership (PPP).
He went on to say that although PPPs in the health sector had been his original idea when minister, “they only make sense when they are beneficial for the government”.
Under the 2010 tender, savings to the tune of €72 million had been estimated. However, under the new tender to be launched in 2014, savings total around €166 million as it already includes the financial benefits of bringing the health units of S. José, Santa Maria, Curry Cabral, Estefânia, Capuchos and Alfredo da Costa Maternity under the new hospital.
The new Hospital de Lisboa Oriental is set to cover a 165,000sqm area and represents an investment of €600 million. It is expected that the hospital will serve a population of 300,000 inhabitants and will include 789 beds, 22 surgery rooms, 90 consultation offices, 17 medical specialties, 14 surgical specialties and other areas for diagnostics and therapeutics.
Completion of the hospital is expected in 2017 but what still needs to be clarified is whether the project will fall under a PPP, a model already approved by the Troika. One aspect is certain though: no bank guarantees will be included in the new tender.
The new Lisbon hospital project was launched in 2007 by the then Health Minister Correia de Campos.
