The Henry Dunant Nursing Home, in Beja, owned by the Portuguese Red Cross (CVP) ends today, putting an end to an existence of 26 year old, as a Residential Structure for the Elderly (ERPI’s).
The users who were still in the space were relocated to other spaces and the 29 workers go into unemployment.
Questioned by Lidador News (LN), CVP reported that it “guaranteed a solution for ERPI’s in Beja, which will be closed”, since about two months ago the Casa de Reposo José António Marques, the oldest had been emptied and the users transferred to Henry Dunant.
According to the Red Cross communication, “it was possible to replace 39 users on many other devices in a process carried out in close collaboration with families and Social Security”, adding that “82% of these users were relocated less than 50 kilometers from the area where your family members live, may require the rapprochement process”, concluded that 17 users “left on their own initiative, with families opting for other alternatives”, justified the institution.
As for the almost three dozen workers, from this last day of work and with no other professional solution in sight, All they have to do is resort to unemployment to ensure their financial survival.. In some cases, puts an end to a working relationship of more than 30 years with the Red Cross.
The workers held two protests to draw attention to the serious problem they were experiencing, but nothing changed the decision taken by the CVP Management. In one of the demonstrations, ao JN, Fatima Costa, ERPI’S worker, she said indignantly: "The president (Antonio Saraiva) is alentejano, should do for this, but not, is doing to close, does not understand. It is possible to keep homes open, they (Red Cross) It’s just that they don’t want to”.
In the last protest at the end of June, the workers revealed that the demonstration ends a painful week, “since during its course the professionals who in recent years have been the face of the institution in the city of Lower Alentejo, we received the dismissal letters, sent by the CVP National Directorate”, rematavam.
The closure of the two ERPI’s was revealed by Lidador NotĂcias on the day 18 January and only three months later the president of the National Directorate (DN) da CVP, Antonio Saraiva, reported that “the decision was made to close by 31 of July the two nursing homes, because it is not possible to make functional improvements that would allow the situation to be reversed.”.
Teixeira Correia
(journalist)
