| Health Centers relieve pressure on Agostinho Neto Hospital | ||||
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Some 5,000 fewer people sought out the services of Praia’s Agostinho Neto Hospital in the first six months of this year, in comparison to the same period last year. This reduction is due, according to hospital director Artur Correia, to the recent opening of a number of health centers on the island of Santiago. Data from Agostinho Neto Hospital indicates that in the first six months of 2009, 35,307 people sought emergency room services, as opposed to 40,314 during the first half of 2008. The reduction of approximately 5,000 patients relieved pressure on the country’s largest hospital. Agostinho Neto Hospital director Artur Correia commemorates the reduction, and says that this year the hospital “has worked under less pressure.” Correia believes that this reduction will continue in the coming months, especially when the health centers begin gaining notoriety and credibility on the part of residents of neighborhoods such as Achadinha, Achada de Santo António, Tira Chapéu, Ponta d’Água and Achada Grande Trás. “We’re still decentralizing a number of specializations from the hospital to the health centers in Praia. All of this will bring health services closer to the population, while at the same time reducing pressure on the central hospital,” affirmed Correia, who added that the most accentuated decrease was registered in pediatric services. General clinic and surgery consultations are among the sectors that have been transferred to the health centers. According to Correia, Agostinho Neto Hospital also intends to decentralize blood sample collecting for tests, for which it is currently awaiting feedback from the Praia Health Department delegation. This policy, says Correia, is aimed at encouraging people “not to feel obliged to go to Agostinho Neto Hospital for tests.” Agostinho Neto Hospital currently has some 300 patients hospitalized, and attends to some 250 people a day in its emergency room. An average of 750 tests are carried out per day, which, according to the director, constitutes “an overload of work for a hospital this size.” Artur Correia also tells that the hospital now features new specialties, such as endocrinology and hematology. Endoscopy services, which used to be provided outside of the hospital, have now been integrated into its facilities. Meanwhile, we have learned that Agostinho Neto Hospital has replaced its stock of reagents for laboratory examinations after a shortage that lasted several weeks. |
