The rector of Unicamp, Antonio José de Almeida Meirelles, participated this Friday morning (23/9) in a Public Hearing held by the Legislative Assembly of the State of São Paulo (Alesp) to debate the State budget for the 2022 financial year The rector was accompanied by the university's Executive Director of the Health Area, Oswaldo da Rocha Grassiotto.
The meeting, held in the plenary of the Campinas City Council, was chaired by state deputy Antonio Dirceu Dalben (PL) and was attended by state deputies Gilmaci Santos (Republicans), Enio Tatto (PT) and Valéria Bolsonaro (PRTB), in addition to federal deputy Henrique Stein (Republicans).
Antonio Meirelles spoke of dialogue initiatives with all sectors of society, including political agents, undertaken since the beginning of his mandate. The rector highlighted that Unicamp provides important health care equipment, of medium and high complexity, in the Metropolitan Region of Campinas, serving the approximately seven million people who are part of the Regional Health Directorates (DRS 7, 10 and 14).
“We have expanded this dialogue to continue partnering with the MRC cities and obtain resources and support for the construction, on land donated by the university, of a Metropolitan Hospital, which will serve our entire population”, explained Antonio Meirelles. Unicamp intends to transfer to the State an area of 40 thousand square meters that is part of the Argentine Farm, integrating the new hospital into its Hospital de Clínicas (HC) complex and thereby increasing the supply by more than 400 beds.
In his intervention at the hearing, the director of the Health Area, Dr. Oswaldo Grassioto, reinforced the request for support for the construction of the Metropolitan Hospital and informed that the work is estimated at around R$320 million, with costs in the order of R$ 250 million. Grassioto highlighted that Unicamp wants the new hospital to follow the same model as the Sumaré State Hospital, which belongs to the State Department of Health but has technical management from the university. He additionally requested more resources for the Sumarean unit, which suffered cuts in its budget, with losses for assistance in pediatric surgery and ophthalmology.
“We ask for support to recover, for next year, this resource for the State Hospital, and resources for the Specialty Medical Outpatient Clinic (AME) in Sumaré, which will be fundamental equipment to complete the regional health network that Unicamp has managed”, said the director.
Alesp has held public hearings in all regions of the State. The proposals presented will be forwarded to the state government to be included in the 2022 budget. The rector assessed the public hearing as very positive and thanked him for the opportunity to present Unicamp's plans for greater interaction with civil society and political agents of the metropolitan region and the entire State, especially in health care.
