Initially, the completion of the heliport at the Eduardo Santos Silva Hospital, at the Gaia Espinho Local Health Unit (ULSGE), was scheduled for August.

A source from this unit revealed that “weather conditions and other unforeseeable factors meant that the work was not completed within the stipulated deadline, but without any budget overruns”, he assured.

The work began at the end of March.

Budgeted at almost 1.5 million euros, this heliport received a favourable opinion from the National Civil Aviation Authority (ANAC) in July last year.

On Thursday, at 1:00 pm, a military helicopter – Blackhawk – from the Portuguese Air Force flew over the construction site.

“[It was] a visual reconnaissance flight and to check the obstacles, as well as to check the operational conditions and familiarize the crews”, described a source from ULSGE.

This helipad is being installed on top of the five-story building, which houses the emergency room, as well as the intensive care and neurocritical care units, that is, an area dedicated to the treatment of critical patients.

The aim is to allow rapid vertical access via elevators.

In April, it was reported that, after landing, the patient should not take more than 20 seconds to reach the Emergency Room or the Intensive Care Unit.

Currently, a patient who needs to be transported by helicopter to the Santos Silva Hospital arrives at the runway at the Serra do Pilar Barracks, next to the Luís I bridge, and then has to face traffic congestion to reach the hospital unit by ambulance.

The ULSGE heliport will be able to operate at night.

The intention to build a heliport at this hospital centre was described to the Lusa news agency in March 2022, when the chairman of the board of directors, Rui Guimarães, pointed out that the project had already been validated by ANAC.

“We hope to be able to have the authorisation to build it very quickly”, said Rui Guimarães on the sidelines of the inauguration of the Women and Children's Unit.

The doctor considered that the location of Gaia, a municipality in the district of Porto, is “strategic” because it has a “very large” area of ​​influence south of the Douro River.

On that occasion, Rui Guimarães commented that, in a survey carried out by the National Institute of Medical Emergencies (INEM) on hospitals that had to build or refurbish heliports, the Gaia Hospital was considered a priority.

The ULSGE includes the Gaia/Espinho hospital centre and the Grande Porto VII (Gaia) and Grande Porto VIII (Espinho/Gaia) health centre clusters.

This heliport will have two approach routes: one southwest, south of the Douro, towards Serra da Freita (Arouca), and another northeast, towards Porto.

The heliport area will occupy around 1,500 square metres.