General Health Inspectorate investigates Braga hospital contracts case

The General Inspectorate of Health Activities opened an inspection into the case of the Braga hospital, which entered into several contracts with the company of the director of the Ophthalmology service, who also held coordination roles in the private sector.

The inspector general confirmed the information to CNN Portugal, which reported the case on Thursday night. After TVI/CNN contacted the hospital, the director resigned.

The director of the service, Fernando Vaz, left his post on Tuesday, two days before the news about contracts worth 27 million euros between his private company and that hospital, as clarified today by the Braga Local Health Unit (ULSB).

The board of directors says that “any situation of incompatibility or conflict of interests is being analyzed internally.”

The current ULSB board of directors has been in office since March 19, 2025.

In a statement, ULSB states that the contractual relationship with the company Iberoftal, owned by Fernando Vaz, originated during the period of the public-private partnership (PPP), later transitioning to the Public Business Entity (EPE) model on September 1, 2019.

He adds that this relationship remained in force until the end of 2023, with the launch of the new management model for local health units (ULS).

Between 2019 and 2023, the amounts involved in the provision of services exceeded 18.1 million euros.

In early 2024, an international public tender was held for the provision of ophthalmology services, to be valid throughout that year.

During the competitive period, ULS Braga extended Ibertofal's services, through direct adjustment, in the amount of 743 thousand euros, "with the aim of guaranteeing the continuity of the assistance response in ophthalmology".

“After the 2024 contract ended, and in order to guarantee the normal and regular provision of healthcare to its users, ULS Braga opened a new international public tender, fully open to competition, to be valid for three years (2025, 2026 and 2027), with this procedure being duly processed and just awaiting the necessary authorization to be obtained”, the statement also says.

However, and given the need to obtain the aforementioned authorization, the administration says that it proved necessary to resort to two direct adjustments worth 5.1 million euros, which will be valid until the start date of the contract, to guarantee the continuity of the assistance activity of the Ophthalmology Service of the Hospital de Braga.

The contract was signed “with the only entity that submitted a proposal within the scope of the international public tender” and also obtained prior approval from the Court of Auditors.

The Medical Association has already requested clarification from the Braga Local Health Unit today regarding the service director who owns a company that has contracts with the hospital unit and who has accumulated coordination functions in the private sector.