Mayor Roberto Cláudio announces recruitment for doctors and renovation of Frotinhas hospital.

Ceara 247 - Mayor Roberto Cláudio announced this Friday (May 15th) a public competition to hire 110 doctors, in addition to the renovation of the three Frotinhas hospitals in Messejana, Parangaba, and Antônio Bezerra. The announcement was made during a press conference at the Dr. José Frota Institute (IJF), and according to the Mayor, "the idea is for the health network to have better quality coverage."

According to Roberto Cláudio, the 110 doctors who will be hired will work at the Frotinhas and IJF hospitals. “The public notice with the vacancies and specialties will be released by the end of June. This recruitment process is a necessity for the municipal hospitals and will guarantee the presence of more doctors, which can increase the effectiveness of patient care in each unit,” he explained.

Furthermore, the three Frotinhas (smaller hospitals) will be completely renovated and expanded. “The Frotinhas haven't undergone any intervention in over 20 years, so we will increase the ICU, the observation room, the emergency room of the units and acquire new equipment. This will guarantee better assistance and resolution of problems,” said the Mayor. The renovation projects and the bidding process will be delivered between October and December 2015. Currently, each Frotinha has approximately 60 beds. With the expansion, the Parangaba unit, for example, will increase the number of beds by 90%.

During the press conference, the superintendent of IJF, Walter Frota, announced that the hospital will publish data on its website regarding the number of patients in circulation areas. Monitoring the length of stay of patients in observation and circulation areas has been done since 2013 using Kanban, a monitoring system and management tool used in the most advanced healthcare systems in the world. "This methodology allows for better patient monitoring, controlling their length of stay from the moment they arrive at the hospital," said Walter Frota.

Another measure to be adopted by the City Hall will be to increase the contracting of support beds. Patients in the public network receive care at the Fernandes Távora Hospital, Santa Casa de Misericórdia, Pronto Socorro dos Acidentados (PSA), Hospital Batista and Hospital Zilda Arns (Women's Hospital).

According to the president of the Regional Council of Medicine, Ivan Moura Fé, the renovation of the Frotinhas hospitals will guarantee better care for the population. "This announcement comes to meet the needs and concerns of patients, with more modern and expanded hospitals," he stated.

The director of the National Federation of Doctors, José Maria Pontes, believes that hiring more doctors will guarantee better assistance for patients. "The need for healthcare is growing. With more professionals, the public system will be able to meet the existing demand," he concluded.

Under the current administration in Fortaleza, 86 Health Centers have already been delivered with renovations and a new management model, in addition to three UPAs (Emergency Care Units) that were inaugurated by the Municipality and are added to the other six that were inaugurated by the State Government in Fortaleza, guaranteeing better quality in initial care.

Visit to Frotinhas
On the morning of this Friday (May 15th), before the visit and press conference at the Dr. José Frota Institute (IJF), Mayor Roberto Cláudio visited the three Frotinhas hospitals in the neighborhoods of Messejana, Parangaba, and Antônio Bezerra. On the occasion, the Mayor verified the operating conditions, infrastructure, and personnel of the three facilities, in addition to listening to the demands of the patients in those locations. "We visited the Frotinhas with the proposal to expand the backup beds to alleviate the pressure on the IJF," he said.

According to the Municipal Hospital Management Coordinator, Francisco Alencar, the renovations and expansions in the municipal secondary healthcare network should begin in the second half of this year, increasing the number of beds by 80 to 100 in the three hospital units. “With the improvements in health centers and the construction of the Emergency Care Units, there is a need to expand the number of beds in secondary care. The population will benefit from this,” he pointed out.

According to the executive secretary of the Municipal Health Department, Lúcia Cidrão, it is important to be on the front lines, personally verifying the main problems in Fortaleza's health units. “Our management policy is to work as a network, because there are patient needs that can be resolved in smaller hospitals. Given the scarcity of financial resources, it is necessary to prioritize what is urgent for healthcare,” she pointed out.

The Mayor's visit was accompanied by representatives from municipal departments, city council members from Fortaleza, the Regional Council of Medicine, and the National Federation of Physicians.