Rio de Janeiro's City Hall and Ternium announced a partnership for the structural renovation of the Ernani de Paiva Ferreira Braga Family Clinic, in Santa Cruz. The company has committed to invest BRL 2.5 million to perform the works. The beginning of the works is scheduled for March.
The clinic operates as a primary healthcare unit and has the capacity to provide 6,300 appointments per month. The clinic has 29,497 persons registered, mainly residents from the Santa Cruz, Paciência and Sepetiba neighborhoods, in the West Area. The facilities will also be used to attend to patients infected by Covid-19 and as a vaccination center for the region's population.
"We support the City Hall with hospital equipment and Covid-19 tests. Now, we are going to renovate a family clinic that will be an important vaccination center. Our investment with the City Hall in the fight against Covid-19 has reached BRL 8.5 million," says the president of Ternium Brazil, Marcelo Chara, adding that the investment is made according to the strategy outlined by the public authorities.
PARTNERSHIP
In early February, Ternium entered into a partnership with Rio de Janeiro's Municipal Health Secretariat for the donation of 10,000 antigen tests for Covid-19 detection. The tests, acquired from Abbott Laboratories (United States), comply with the World Health Organization (WHO) standards, and results are obtained within up to 20 minutes. The first batch, with 5,000 units, was delivered to the Secretariat on February 5. The second batch is to be delivered within the next few days. The kits were sent to the primary healthcare units in Santa Cruz.
The Community Relations Manager, Fernanda Candeias, detailed the initiatives developed with the City Hall to support the population of Santa Cruz. More than BRL 5 million were donated in equipment, ventilators, monitors, and pumps to Pedro II and Ronaldo Gazolla Hospitals, where Ternium helped set up 25 ICU beds to attend to Covid-19 victims. Primary healthcare units in Santa Cruz and the region were also provided with more than 54,000 personal protection items such as masks, gloves, face shields, and alcohol gel.
"The renovation of the Ernani de Paiva Ferreira Braga Family Clinic is one more action by Ternium to support the population of Santa Cruz in fighting the new coronavirus pandemic, as well as the legacy that we will leave after the pandemic for the region," said Fernanda Candeias.
The family clinic is located at Avenida João XXIII, s/ nº, from Monday to Friday, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., and on Saturdays, from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m.