Vitória’s Central State Hospital opened its doors in December 2009 and is already providing important health care services to the public in the northeastern Brazilian state of Espírito Santo. By April 2010, it had 770 in-patients. The 15,000 procedures carried out to date include 6,700 clinical tests, 1,400 specialized consultations and 800 surgeries.

Located in downtown Vitória, the hospital is owned and operated by the Espírito Santo State Health Department (SESA) and has two specialties: orthopedics, for which 25 beds have been available since it opened, and vascular medicine, introduced in February, which increased the number of beds to 83. The next specialties to be offered will be neurology and thoracic surgery. When all the hospital is fully operational, it will have a total capacity of 172 beds and 760 consultations per month. The institution receives patients referred by the public health system, particularly Dório Silva, São Lucas and Antonio Bezerra de Faria hospitals, through the Hospitalization Regulation Center, the SESA agency that controls access to that unit. With a built area of 9,496 sq.m, the hospital has eight floors that house 42 wards, an Intensive Care Unit (ICU), a Surgical Center with five operating rooms, an Advanced Diagnostics Center (where CAT scans, x-rays, endoscopies, colonoscopies and ultrasound exams are performed) and five visitor waiting rooms, among other facilities.

The Central State Hospital resulted from the refurbishing of the former São José Hospital building. Odebrecht took charge of the project in February 2009 and carried out the remodeling job in six months, the deadline set by the State of Espírito Santo due to the urgent need to keep to its strategic planning for the restructuring of the state’s health care system. The government has invested BRL 41 million in the project, of which BRL 9 million were for Odebrecht’s services.

“When Odebrecht took over the project, there was a lot to do in very little time,” says Technical Manager Paulo Morand. According to Operations Manager Gilberto Eugênio, the biggest challenge was “redesigning the existing plans while the project was underway.” Eight hundred workers participated in the works. “Our client had an urgent need, and our teams met that need,” observes Project Director Márcio Pellegrini.

The hospital is now being run by Pró-Saúde (Pro Health), a philanthropic organization that manages hiring and labor relations and establishes the internal regulations for public service and relations with suppliers and sub-contractors, as well as reporting to the government. “Pró-Saúde takes care of the hospital’s day-to-day operations. We want to cut down on red tape in public management and streamline public services,” says State Health Secretary Anselmo Tozi.

The Espírito Santo State Health Department (SESA) has 11,000 civil servants on its staff. Its system includes 15 public hospitals. All have been refurbished during the current administration, which has invested BRl 35 million in computerizing these units. The 16 charity hospitals in the state health system received BRL 300 million in investments in 2009.

“Pró-Saúde was the best-qualified organization for the job, considering the government’s requirements. The biggest beneficiaries will be the residents of Espírito Santo,” underscores Anselmo Tozi. When it is fully operational, the hospital will have 624 staff members. Administration costs will run to BRL 38 million per year.

“I’ve never seen a public hospital that offers this level of service,” says Luzia Nonato, who lives in Vitória, the state capital. Her son Dário Viganor, 16, has undergone surgery at the new hospital. When Bruno Moura de Jesus, 20, a resident of Serra, in the Vitória metropolitan region, broke his right foot, he went to Dório Silva Hospital and was referred to the Central Hospital for surgery and treatment. “They took very good care of me. Now I’m getting follow-up on my treatment.”