Hospital da Luz Coimbra received, on July 10, the president of the Central Region Section of the Portuguese Medical Association (SRCOM), Carlos Cortes , in the scope of a cycle of visits to public and private health units in the region, with the purpose of evaluating how they have organized themselves and found solutions to deal with the emergency, in terms of public health arising from the COVID-19 pandemics. The program of the visit, that took this representative of the Medical Association to Hospital da Luz Coimbra for two consecutive days, included work meetings with the main managers of the hospital, where the implemented exceptional measures to fight COVID-19 were analysed, along with the response capacity of the different specialities. “Along these two days of visit, I highlight two aspects: the reaction to COVID-19 and the dynamic of the different specialities in Hospital da Luz Coimbra, a great private hospital. In this visit, it was possible to realize all that was done and developed during the pandemics. There was prompt reaction and early concerns – in terms of patients and in terms of the professionals – and always with highly demanding measures, even anticipating the guidelines from the Directorate General for Health”, referred Carlos Cortes. “The separation of circuits remains in place in all areas of the hospital, that counts with a contingency room. Thus, Hospital da Luz Coimbra gives a major contribution for healthcare, ensuring safety conditions, so that patients may come back to the hospital. And screening is made on entrance, masks are obligatory, as well as safe distancing, and there are dispensers of alcohol based solution in several areas”, he further exemplified. For Pedro Beja Afonso, Hospital da Luz Coimbra manager, the visit of Carlos Cortes is important, to validate all the effort developed lately towards ensuring healthcare providing in all safety : “We strived to ensure the use of personal protection equipment (PPE) and to establish safety procedures and circuits, for health is an essential asset and we cannot fail those who seek our help. We strive every day to improve Hospital da Luz Coimbra and, to that purpose, we count with the fundamental contribution of the Portuguese Medical Association.” In the end of the visit, Carlos Cortes also stressed the investment made by this hospital in terms of service differentiation: “The quality of the radiology service, with equipment such as CAT scan, magnetic resonance and angiography, is not usual in the private hospitals of the central region, allowing a high degree of autonomy. This effort is important and necessary, and reassures me, for it confers the city of Coimbra and the central region the required conditions for the safe treatment of patients.” The clinical director of Hospital da Luz Coimbra, Filipe Caseiro Alves, highlighted, for that matter, the importance of the Unit of Intermediate / Intensive Care (UCII): “It represents a significant step in terms of safety for the patient. The technological differentiation and safety in all circuits enable us a prompt and early response.” In the photo above , Hugo Raimundo (Director Nurse of this hospital), Luís Gonzaga Ferreira (manager), Andrea Mesa (coordinator of the Infection Control local program), Filipe Caseiro Alves, Carlos Cortes and Pedro Beja Afonso
