The Regional Secretary for Health announced today that the funds for regional healthcare centres have already been transferred, thus clearing all their debts in the new economic year.

At the session to celebrate the 53rd Anniversary of the Ponta Delgada Nursing School, Miguel Correia also revealed that regional healthcare centres have paid their debts to pharmacies, laboratories and medicine.

Speaking on behalf of President of the Government, the Secretary for Health also assured that the Azorean Government transferred funds to regional hospital and that these health units have started to pay their debts.

He also stressed that the Regional Government is making an effort to balance the accounts of "Casas de Saúde," adding that the workers' salaries have never been jeopardised as these institutions are an extension of the Regional Secretariat for Health.

Meanwhile, the Regional Secretary urged for the need to reverse the spending trend that had contributed to the debt growth, year after year, in the health sector.

Fortunately, this trend has been reverted and the debt growth has now dropped, mentioned Miguel Correia.

The Regional Secretary for Health confirmed that the dispensing of single-dose medicines at Azorean hospitals will be a reality in 2012, assuring that this measure, already in force, reduces costs for patients.

The government official also said that innovative solutions are being created in conjunction with the National Association of Pharmacies on the use of single-medicines, thus providing new services, for example, in the treatment of chronic patients by creating packages with the medication for each day.

In this regard, Miguel Correia stressed that this year, the Regional Government will hire more nurses due to the reduction of overtime work in hospitals and mentioned that the Azorean Government will maintain the "Estagiar L" programme, an innovative initiative design to support the entry of young graduates into the labour market.

The government official assured that the Regional Government will invest in infrastructures providing patients with better access conditions as well as in equipments to keep up with technological advances in a sector where innovation is continual.

Miguel Correia praised the role played by the two nursing schools of the University of the Azores, located in Ponta Delgada and Angra do Heroísmo, and announced that the Regional Government will create 10 mobile nursing teams with palliative and continuing care, providing daily support to more than 100 patients at home.