The Regional Secretary of Health of the Azores said today that the Plan and Regional Budget for 2027 foresees the highest investment ever in the sector, reflecting the priority given by the Government to users and professionals.
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05/11/2026
by
Lusa
A regional Secretary of Health of the Azores said today that the Plan and Regional Budget for 2027 foresees the highest investment ever in the sector, reflecting the priority given by the Government to users and professionals.
“Government’s priority is the largest asset of the Regional Health Service, users and their professionals,” Mónica Seidi said at a hearing in the Azorean Parliament’s Social Affairs Committee, as part of the hearings of Regional Government Plan and Budget proposals (PSD/CDS-PP/PPM) for 2027, documents that will be discussed and voted on in the Azorean parliament in the last week of November.
The Regional Secretary for Health and Social Security told Members that this is a “budget of responsibility”.
“It’s a truly humanistic budget that solves the problems of the Regional Health Service and its biggest asset, which are people and professionals,” said the Regional Secretary for Health and Social Security, adding that the Regional Government will continue to bet on careers and strengthen recruitment of professionals.
In the context of the programmes to combat and recover waiting lists in the Regional Health Service, Mónica Seidi clarified, in response to Members, that hospitals submit proposals per specialty annually, taking into account the available human resources and the number of surgeries they manage to perform, but ensured that there will be no reduction of funds.
As indicated, the allocation for 2027 will not be less than that of 2026 and should remain at least EUR 5 million, Mónica Seidi indicated.
The recovery of the Hospital do Divino Espírito Santo (HDES), in Ponta Delgada, on the island of São Miguel, following the fire on May 4, 2024, will continue to be a priority of the investment plan in Health.
“There is a wrong idea [of] that the whole process is stopped. But, it does not correspond to the truth,” Mónica Seidi said, in response to questions put by Members during the hearing, ensuring that the work is ongoing, “although there are still constraints that have to be restored”.
According to the regional secretary, the functional program, considered “very robust”, is complete.
The preliminary programme is now under development, which should be drawn up with the maximum possible rigor, and in conjunction with various government departments.
The governor assured that the executive is working as a team and seeking to “shorten deadlines” to remodel the largest health unit in the Azores with “as soon as possible”.
The creation of the Regional Network of Palliative Care is another of the bets of the Azorean executive for 2027.
According to Mónica Seidi, talks are taking place with the teams involved in the preparation of the first programme of this network, the implementation of which should begin from next year and phased out.
Regarding the health check, Mónica Seidi reported that the initiative has already entered the Legislative Assembly.
“ We would like to give priority to this initiative to improve the response that is given within the Regional Health Service ", he said.
In the area of primary health care, Mónica Seidi highlighted the planned investments and interventions, which will allow new care responses and ensured an increase in the daily attributed to cancer patients.
As regards the treatment of drug addiction, Mónica Seidi announced that the Region intends to start a pilot project next year with fishermen providing for the use of a prolonged-release drug in the treatment of dependencies.
Mónica Seidi also addressed the project of the Clinical Academic Center, revealing that several preparatory meetings have been held.
In Social Security, the governor assured that the Regional Government “is channeling money to those who need it most” and “the most vulnerable” and focusing on childhood, youth and the elderly.
According to the preliminary draft budget for the Azores for the coming year, health will have increased funding of around EUR 270 million in 2027, including 30 million from the regional budget, 160 million from the transformation of commercial debt into financial and 80 million from an “extraordinary transfer of the State Budget”.
The Region budget for 2027 amounts to EUR 2,5 billion, of which EUR 650 million is for direct government investment.