BRAZIL: New center opens to manage mental health, primary care services
Center to work in partnership with city council
BRAZIL
(MissionNewswire) Salesian missionaries have opened Zatti Saúde, a new branch of the Salesian Mato Grosso Mission in Araçatuba, Brazil, to manage essential mental health and primary care services. The center will work in partnership with the Araçatuba City Council.
Lucas Zanatta, the mayor of Araçatuba, attended the opening ceremony and highlighted the innovative nature of the partnership between the public authorities and the Salesian institution. He noted, “It is the only partnership in Brazil in which a university with a medical course takes over the management of primary health care. This seemed impossible a few months ago. Today it is a reality. And more than that, it is a sign of hope for the entire population.”
Also attending the June 10 opening were Father Ricardo Carlos, provincial of the mission, and Father Paulo Fernando Vendrame, rector of UniSalesiano, the Salesian University, and director general of the Salesians in Araçatuba.
In his speech, Fr. Vendrame said, “Here, we want to dream of a new era for health in Araçatuba. May it be a place where administration serves to transform lives.” He also highlighted Saint Artemides Zatti, after whom the new headquarters is named, as an inspiration for the mission. “He believed, promised and recovered. May he inspire us in the face of difficulties to be instruments of transformation through humanized care.”
Fr. Carlos emphasized the symbolic nature of opening the new facility and the value of alliances based on trust and solidarity. He explained, “We are celebrating something very new. When we said yes to this partnership, I was at Don Bosco’s house in Turin. I remembered how he welcomed so many with a plate of food and with an opportunity. This is what we want to do here ― welcome, care for and transform.”
The new headquarters for Zatti Saúde will house strategic departments such as accounting, legal and human resources, as well as rooms for board meetings and the coordination of mental health and basic health services.
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Sources:
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ANS – Brazil – “Zatti Saúde” opens in Araçatuba with a commitment to humane healthcare
Salesian Missions – Brazil
World Bank – Brazil
