Algarve’s new public hospital administration is again at the centre of controversy after the executive board in charge of the Medicine faculty in the region quit over the “loss of autonomy” when selecting teachers.
The executive board members claim João Guerreiro, dean at the University of the Algarve, had sent an agreement to the Centro Hospitalar do Algarve (CHA), headed by Pedro Nunes, leaving out “important demands” which they believe will put at risk the quality of the Medicine course.
At the centre of the row is the “loss of autonomy” for the Medicine board of directors who will no longer be able to select the professors to teach at the course without prior approval by the CHA. The decision to quit was announced on Thursday last week.
Isabel Palmeirim, director of the executive board, told Público newspaper: “The CHA is the only entity with which the university has signed agreements and is demanding to have a say in the selection of specialists invited to teach at the course. This places the autonomy we have always had at risk.”
She added: “If the procedures are not altered, the future of the course is at risk.”
Along with Isabel Palmeirim, Pedro Marvão, course sub-director, also resigned, according to the press report.
Dean Guerreiro has yet to comment on the latest incident involving the CHA.
