The Minister of Social Security, Maria do Rosário Palma Ramalho, inaugurated this Tuesday the second nursing home of the Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Mafra, an investment of 4.4 million euros, of which 2.3 million financed by the Recovery and Resilience Plan. The ceremony was attended by the institution's provedor, Joaquim Sardinha.
The new home is ready but cannot open because the agreement with the Social Security Institute for the State to co-pay 48 of the 60 residents that the facility will receive still needs to be signed. Without this agreement, the Residential Facility for Elderly People cannot begin operations, the provedor confirmed to the Lus news agency.
The institution renovated the former building of the hospital and health center of Mafra, which was vacated in 2019. The need to demolish one of the buildings due to lack of seismic vulnerability rules increased the investment. Joaquim Sardinha justified the investment with the lack of capacity of social institutions and the high demand, stating that there are 150 people on the waiting list and that hospitals are full of people who should no longer be there.
When questioned by the Lus news agency, the minister denied that there is a wait of months in most cases, considering the process normal and stating that efforts to cut bureaucracy have been made. The new home will create 38 new jobs and the institution already had another home in operation with 76 residents.
