Fernando Vaz was a director of ophthalmology in Braga for 15 years.
Millionaire contracts between the health unit and the Iberoftal. Fernando Vaz resigned after an TVI investigation, but a company maintains contracts with the hospital by 2027. Services were provided with ULS means and infrastructure.
The country is facing a new health scandal, with suspicions of conflicts of interest and improper payments in the Braga Hospital.
An investigation from and TVI reveals this Thursday that they were made millionaire contracts Between the ophthalmology health unit of that hospital and a company detained in part by the then director of the service.
The case was dragging on 15 years ago, since Fernando Vaz occupied the position, while coordinating Iberoftal, created in 2007. After the investigation exhibited that the company Iberoftalof which Vaz holds 30% of the capital, received more than 27 million euros from the hospital since 2019the director of ophthalmology presented the resignation.
The contracts between Iberoftal and the hospital began when the unit was still operating under the public-private partnership model, writes CNN. With the passage to public management in 2019, the agreements will have been maintained, and it was from there that payments to the company increased: This year alone there were more than 5 million.
Fernando Vaz also worked in private health, coordinating the Ophthalmology of the Institute and Hospital CUF Porto.
Despite Fernando Vaz’s resignation, the company maintains contracts with the hospital until at least 2027.
Although the company is being hired by the hospital, the services were provided using the means and infrastructure of the hospital unit itself.
It is recalled that ULS de Braga has been in the sights of authorities due to-which allows extra payment to medical teams by surgeries performed outside normal hours. In 2024, the local health unit (ULS) of Braga disbursed 17.2 million euros for this type of production. Some of the surgeries were performed during vacation, Sundays or days of normal working hours.
The dermatology service of the Santa Maria Hospital in Lisbon is also alleged by similar irregularities.
