Santa Vitória do Palmar will have a Hemodialysis Center that is highly anticipated by the population in need of treatment. “Patients face three times a week, 480 kilometers. Some of them are from Barra do Chuí and are looking for a life in the city of Rio Grande, our reference. Most of them are between 35 and 45 years old, two are blind, and they all live on minimum wage”, reveals Mayor Wellington Bacelo.
The government of Rio Grande do Sul announced a contribution of R$1 million through the Avançar Program, which will be used to purchase equipment for the Hemodialysis Center, currently under construction and scheduled to open in September.
According to the mayor, due to the distance – Santa Vitória do Palmar is in the Far South of Brazil – the administration has been facing high costs in transporting patients. “Offering hemodialysis in the municipality will reduce public spending, in addition to providing a better quality of life for our citizens, who face a saga of more than ten hours per procedure”, he adds. The Hemodialysis Center will become a reference not only for Santa Vitória do Palmar, but also for the neighboring city of Chuí.
The service will be located in the old Samu building, in the central region of the city, and total investments are expected to reach R$2 million, with the work being funded through resources from Santa Vitória do Palmar, Chuí City Hall and parliamentary amendments. “This work will change the reality of the municipality. People will undergo hemodialysis here. It will be a new reality, a new life for these people,” he revealed.