Azores surgical waiting list reaches highest level in available records

A total of 13,945 patients were waiting for surgery in the Azores in July 2026, the highest figure in the Regional Health Directorate's available records since 2017. The number appears in the monthly bulletin of the region's central surgical waiting-list management unit.

Against that backdrop, Carlos Cortes, president of Portugal's Medical Association, called for a faster response and more resources at Hospital do Divino Espírito Santo (HDES) in Ponta Delgada. He spoke on October 29 after meeting the hospital's clinical management.

Cortes said the 2024 fire had added to the hospital's difficulties and that the return to full activity had been too slow. While acknowledging the importance of rebuilding, he argued that patients' immediate needs also required attention.

According to Cortes, HDES needs more doctors, nurses and diagnostic staff, as well as additional operating rooms and inpatient beds. In his assessment, the hospital was already too small for demand before the fire.

The archipelago's geography makes hospital capacity particularly important because moving patients between facilities brings its own constraints. On October 13, the Regional Government reported that consultations and diagnostic examinations at HDES had increased this year, even though the hospital has been operating in a modular building since the fire.