Local Health Unit of Almada / Seixal

The Garcia de Orta Hospital (HGO) began its activities in September 1991. In 2003, it was classified as a Central Hospital, the only one on the south bank of the Tagus. Since 2006, it has been established as a Public Business Entity (EPE). HGO's mission is to provide specialized medical care to the population of the municipalities of Almada and Seixal and to develop undergraduate and postgraduate teaching activities for health professionals and research. HGO serves an estimated population of 344,000 inhabitants, with its area of influence extending throughout the southern region of the country in the specialties of Neonatology, Neurosurgery, and Vascular Surgery. The gradual development of the Hospital and the population's care needs have led to the availability of new services, such as Renal and Cornea Transplantation, the Polyvalent Emergency for the entire Setúbal Peninsula, the Interventional Cardiology Unit, the Lisbon Metropolitan Area Emergency Service for acute strokes and brain aneurysms, and Palliative Care Intrahospital Teams for both adults and children. The Hospital has been accredited by CHKS since 2010 and holds certifications in several services: Transfusion Medicine, Clinical Pathology, Anatomical Pathology, Operating Room, Pediatrics and Obstetrics, the Infertility and Medically Assisted Reproduction Center, the Sterilization Center, Monitoring, Planning, and Management. In recent years, two Centers of Reference were created — Colorectal Cancer and Interventional Neuroradiology. It is also a Treatment Center for Adult Pulmonary Hypertension.

HGO has been nationally and internationally recognized for its care activities, continuous quality improvement, and pioneering initiatives in some projects, such as Home Hospitalization and innovation in access to medicines for chronic patients through nearby hospital residences or community pharmacies, which served as a model for dissemination within the SNS. The hospital annually admits an average of 163,700 patients through its Emergency Service and hospitalizes 21,000. It performs approximately 17,000 surgeries per year, 298,000 medical consultations, 32,800 day hospital sessions, and 2,800 births. It employs around 2,800 staff members. The Garcia de Orta Center (CGO), created in January 2012, aims to increase the hospital's capacity for scientific knowledge production through systematic promotion and coordination of Training, Education, and Research activities.
CGO's objectives are:

• Encourage and develop scientific, clinical, and other research projects within the hospital's framework, in collaboration with HGO's various services; 
• Develop scientific and technological knowledge through training in scientific research methodology;
• Identify and protect technological innovations and scientific knowledge developed within the Hospital for dissemination or patent creation;
• Establish partnerships and affiliation agreements with public or private entities, whether national or international, related to its mission;
• Organize study cycles, courses, and training and teaching activities;
• Collaborate with and encourage exchanges with national and international institutions in the field of scientific activity;
• Attract public and private funding to achieve these objectives.