The deal involved the construction and transfer of the Profª Lydia Storópoli Hospital to the Municipal Health Department for 16 years; contract was approved by the Court in March 2024
Almost two years after the announcement of an agreement with the Public Ministry of São Paulo (), Universidade Nove de Julho (Uninove) has still not handed over the Hospital Profª Lydia Storópoli, in Liberdade, in the center of the capital of São Paulo, to the City of São Paulo. When asked about the delay and expected completion date, the university declined to comment on the matter. In December 2023, Uninove reached an agreement with the City Hall and the MP-SP to get rid of a lawsuit for paying bribes to municipal inspectors in exchange for tax immunity. The educational institution committed to paying R$1 billion to the Executive.
The deal involved the construction and transfer of the hospital to the Municipal Health Department for 16 years. The contract was approved by the Courts in March 2024, but until now the health unit has not yet come to fruition. The municipal management said it was awaiting action from Uninove. “It is important to highlight that the City Hall is the beneficiary party and the Public Ministry is the one that supervises”, he informed, in a note. According to the administration, the basic project has already been prepared and is in the licensing phase with the competent bodies.
“After this stage, the installation of the unit to function as a general hospital will begin.” Prosecutor responsible for the agreement, Sílvio Marques states that the detailed project for the health unit was recently approved by the Department of Health and is now being analyzed by health surveillance, which could take around six months. Only then, he says, will the works begin – expected to last 15 months. “Therefore, we are talking about approximately 20 months for the hospital to effectively operate.”
The prosecutor says he charged Uninove and City Hall. “They pointed out that it is a complex project, that it takes a long time to be approved, and that there was no ill will.” Despite the delay, he claims that the justifications convinced him. “My biggest concern, in fact, is that the region has been without a general hospital since the Bela Vista hospital was closed.”
The Bela Vista Municipal Hospital, which was located on Rua Antônio Carlos, in Consolação, closed its activities in November 2024, following a determination by the State Health Surveillance and the Public Ministry. The City Hall, however, states that the central region is assisted by other health units and mentions UPA Vergueiro, Pronto-Socorro Barra Funda, AMA 24h Sé, Santa Casa de Misericórdia, Hospital das Clínicas and Hospital Municipal Infantil Menino Jesus.
The health unit has already functioned as a municipal field hospital during the pandemic. It was built by the university in 2021, within Uninove’s Vergueiro campus, to care for patients with covid-19. At the time, the educational institution invested R$18 million in the construction of the 10,000 m² hospital. The City Council covered the operating costs and paid R$3.6 million in equipment. The site, however, was deactivated after the health crisis abated.
According to promoter Silvio Marques, the agreement between MP-SP and Uninove provides for the reconstruction of the site by the university and the transfer of the space to the Department of Health, which will be responsible for funding and managing the services. The forecast is to provide 600 hospital beds, five operating rooms, ICU and equipment.
“One of the main reasons for signing the agreement was the fact that the university had provided relevant health services to the population, including during the pandemic,” said the prosecutor in December 2023, during the announcement of the contract.
*With information from Estadão Conteúdo
