"25 patients arrived on Sunday and underwent hemodialysis on the same day, and nine more arrived today and will also undergo hemodialysis until the end of the day, totaling 34 patients from the Ponta Delgada hospital", explained Joana Decq Mota, clinical director of the Horta Hospital on Faial Island, to Lusa.

The fire that broke out on Saturday at the Hospital Divino Espírito Santo in Ponta Delgada forced the transfer of all inpatients and the closure of the Emergency Department, Delivery Unit and Operating Room.

The following day, the Government of the Azores declared a state of public calamity due to the fire, the causes of which are still unknown, as a way to "accelerate procedures" that will allow the largest Azorean health unit to return to normal in a "short period of time".

In addition to the 34 hemodialysis patients from Ponta Delgada, the Horta Hospital continues to provide daily hemodialysis treatments to another 30 patients from the islands of Faial and Pico, a situation that will force the administration to extend shifts "until midnight" and also reinforce human resources.

"This implies extending shifts and we will need human resources", stressed the clinical director, adding that at the end of the week "a team of nurses and operational assistants" from São Miguel will arrive to collaborate with the Horta nursing team.

Due to the lack of hospital beds at the Horta Hospital, patients displaced by the fire are temporarily housed in hotel units, but despite being away from their families, they say they have no reason to complain.

"It was a good solution for us. We are very well accommodated, we have everything we need and we are very well accompanied by the nurses and assistants, but of course we miss our nurses there", admitted Lina Bernardo, one of the displaced patients, in statements to journalists during treatment in Horta.

Daniel Franguinho, an Azorean emigrant who has been living in Bermuda for 34 years but was visiting Ponta Delgada, also said he had no complaints about the way he was received at the Horta Hospital.

"They are treating us very well, in every way, we can't complain about anything", he assured.

Despite having doubled the number of patients undergoing hemodialysis treatment at the Horta Hospital, the clinical director of the health unit said that it could still receive more patients from other areas, if necessary.

The Hospital Divino Espírito Santo was hit by a fire on Saturday that forced the transfer of all inpatients.

The regional secretary for Health, Mónica Seidi, told Lusa that at the time of the fire "there were 333 patients in the Hospital", and it was possible to "discharge 23" and transfer 240 patients.

Critical and serious patients were transferred to the CUF hospital in the city of Lagoa, and the rest to health centers. In addition to the patients transferred to Horta, another 26 patients went to the Hospital do Santo Espírito on Terceira Island. Some patients were also transferred to Madeira and to the mainland.

Read Also: Ponta Delgada hospital opens investigation to determine causes of fire (Portuguese version)