Left Bloc (BE) wants clarification on the privatization of hemodialysis.

The Azores Left Bloc (BE Açores) said on Monday that it will request clarification from the Regional Government (PSD/CDS-PP/PPM) regarding the intention to privatize the hemodialysis service at the Hospital do Divino Espírito Santo (HDES), in Ponta Delgada, on the island of São Miguel.

The party announced in a statement that regional deputy António Lima "will propose an urgent parliamentary hearing with the Regional Secretary for Health, the director of the nephrology service at HDES, the two companies that carried out the functional plans for the reorganization and resizing of HDES, and the Portuguese Association of Kidney Patients (APIR)."

The aim of the proposal is to obtain clarification on the Azorean executive's intention to privatize the hemodialysis service, to understand why the hospital's operational plans point towards outsourcing, and also to understand which private company will provide this service.

"Although there are no private clinics in the Azores that perform hemodialysis, the Regional Government has announced that it will outsource this essential service," BE Azores stated in a note.

He added that the hemodialysis unit at HDES “has long been in need of expansion and remodeling work to treat patients with dignity and to increase capacity in order to meet the needs.”

The project “was included in the Region’s Investment Plans since 2023 — where it was added at the proposal of the bloc — but has now disappeared from the 2026 Plan proposal submitted to parliament by the Regional Government,” he noted.

This Monday, after a meeting with APIR, the leader and regional deputy of the Azorean bloc stated that "either the Government is putting patients at risk by closing the service without guaranteeing that someone will provide it in the private sector, or it already has a deal closed with some company."

On October 21st, acknowledging the need to outsource hemodialysis, the Minister of Health in the Azores, Mónica Seidi, stated that it would not be immediate, but "naturally will be part of the future plan for HDES (Hospital Dr. Emanuele II of the Azores)."

“We see no rationality in this decision” to privatize the hemodialysis service, but only “a clearly ideological desire and vision for healthcare to be increasingly provided by private entities, guaranteeing profits through the Regional Budget,” said António Lima on Monday.

According to the BE Azores deputy, this option from the Regional Government "may cause difficulties with human resources, because in addition to the professionals who will be hired for the private clinic, the hospital will always have to have a unit to respond to patients in acute situations."

Furthermore, he concluded, "as APIR argues, having hemodialysis services in the hospital provides greater safety guarantees for patients, because it is important to have access to an emergency service and other specialties in case of any complications during treatment."

In the Azores, there are approximately 400 patients undergoing hemodialysis, according to the regional delegation of the Portuguese Association of Kidney Failure Patients.