Braga ULS claims "university" status

The chairman of the board of directors of the Braga Local Health Unit (ULS), Américo Afonso , highlighted this Friday that the institution meets “all the legal, technical and scientific requirements” to be formally recognized as “university”.

Speaking at Braga Hospital, at the opening of a seminar on Humanization in Health and addressing in particular the executive director of the SNS, Américo Afonso said that the ULS he directs is prepared to be “university-oriented” .

“ Today, ULS Braga clearly and unequivocally meets all the legal, technical and scientific requirements to be formally recognized as a Local University Health Unit (…). We are prepared for this and we are ready to continue building a stronger, closer and more humanized SNS”, he stated.

He recalled that ULS Braga “actively” participates in the training of around 1,800 health professionals per year, also counting on a “consolidated” research ecosystem, with more than 500 researchers.

It receives more than 40% of clinical trials of all phases carried out in Portugal .

Therefore, he considered that the ULS, “in practice”, is already a university.

“We have all the skills of a central ULS, we collaborate closely with one of the most renowned medical schools in the country — the School of Medicine of the University of Minho — and we contribute significantly to the advancement of knowledge in health and to the valorization of the SNS”, he added.

For Américo Afonso, these data are “a concrete expression of a mature academic, assistance and scientific project” .

“A University ULS is, above all, a lever to retain talent, attract science, generate innovation and guarantee more humane, more personalized care that is better prepared for the challenges of the future”, he concluded.