In the resolution of the Government Council that declares the situation of regional public calamity, published today in the Official Journal, the Azorean executive (PSD/CDS-PP/PPM) determines the constitution of a working group with elements from various government departments and the HDES administration. The working group will present a "progress report" by May 31 on the "typology of procedures and methodology that support the inventory of damages and losses caused" by the fire and the "identification of the need to adopt" the "repair measures" to restore activity in the hospital. That group will proceed to the "well-founded listing of the dysfunctions caused in the normal functioning of the Regional Health Service" and to the "identification of the material and financial support necessary to restore the normal functioning" of the HDES. The working group, which will be chaired by the Secretary of Health and Social Security, assumes the responsibility of "identifying situations of need for public spending on the execution of works and the acquisition of goods and services". The group, which may include experts, is also responsible for "monitoring and overall management of the support to be provided, in accordance with the legally defined criteria for the damages and losses inventoried". The situation of regional public calamity was established in a resolution of the Government Council five days after the president of the Azores executive, José Manuel Bolieiro, announced its declaration. "The situation of regional public calamity has a regional scope, as it is not restricted only to the inframunicipal territorial area and the location of all the buildings and infrastructures where the HDES services in Ponta Delgada operate as a whole", reads the resolution. The fire in the Ponta Delgada hospital, which broke out at 09:40 local time on Saturday (10:40 in Lisbon) and was only declared extinguished at 16:11, forced the transfer of all the patients who were hospitalized to various locations in the Azores, Madeira, and the mainland. At the time of the fire, there were 333 patients in the health establishment and it was necessary to transfer 240. The Government of the Azores announced on Sunday the declaration of a situation of public calamity to "accelerate procedures" that will allow the activity of the largest Azorean health unit to return to normal in a "short period of time". The clinical management announced on Wednesday that the hospital will be reactivated slowly, with the oncology and hemodialysis units expected to resume activity in a phased manner next week. An accounting of the damage caused by the fire has not yet been released. Read Also: Ponta Delgada Hospital Releases Support Contacts for Users (Portuguese version)