New family health units continue to open across the Algarve
Thousands of people in Lagos now have a family doctor thanks to the opening of the new Lacóbriga Family Health Unit (USF Lacóbriga), which officially opened its doors on July 1.
Located inside the Lagos Health Centre, the new unit is part of a broader push to expand primary care access across the Algarve – and which recently led to the opening of another family health unit in Portimão. With five doctors, five nurses, and four administrative staff, the team is ready to care for up to 9,000 patients, and has already assigned family doctors to 7,000 residents.
According to Tiago Botelho, President of the Algarve Local Health Unit (ULS Algarve), the opening of USF Lacóbriga is a “clear sign of the institution’s investment in increasing access and improving health care” for Algarve residents.
He also credited the unit’s opening to the “commitment of the health professionals involved and the active collaboration of the municipal council of Lagos,” namely its mayor Hugo Pereira.
USF Lacóbriga is led by Dr. Andreia Gonçalves Dias and follows a ‘patient-centred model’, like other USFs. The basic idea is giving these units more autonomy to give patients the care they need.
