Unlike the provider Ana Jorge, dismissed by the Government and accused by the new Minister of Social Security, Maria do Rosário Palma Ramalho, of not being competent for that position, the deputy provider Ana Vitória Azevedo resigned from Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa at the end of March — she took over as deputy provost in May of the previous year.
“I didn’t believe the administration, I stopped checking myself and left. Whoever is in bad shape moves”, he explained this Wednesday at the Labor, Social Security and Inclusion Committee regarding the internationalization of Santa Casa’s social games and the institution’s financial situation.
Even so, openly criticizing the leadership of Santa Casa, Ana Vitória Azevedo emphasizes: “The fact that I am not reviewed does not mean that a bad job was being done”. And he turned his weapons against the Government and, above all, Maria do Rosário Palma Ramalho. “Regarding the restructuring plan that the Government says should exist and did not exist: there was no time to come up with a robust plan that would involve rethinking the financial sustainability of Santa Casa. But there were urgent measures to regularize the accounts”, explains the resigned deputy ombudsman.
And he lists a specific one, since he supervised human resources and the criticisms are that personnel expenses were increased: “There was a reduction of 40 management positions, managers without teams, their own bosses, which represents a saving of millions of euros . That’s over!”, he says proudly.
Ana Vitória Azevedo concedes that the minister “may want to change the administration, she has the right to want to change”, even if the situation in Santa Casa “was fantastic”. However, as the situation is “complex”, the dismissal was incorrect, she considers. “The minister has no right to slander the people there. There was work to be done. It’s not fair, it’s not right. I sent two emails asking me to talk to her and provide more information. I never got a response. I never took any benefit from the position and saying that is serious. Saying this is not serious”, concludes Ana Vitória Azevedo.
Before the resigning deputy ombudsman, former ombudsman Edmundo Martinho spoke at this Labor, Social Security and Inclusion Committee, a hearing mainly focused on the unsuccessful internationalization (due to the large losses) of Santa Casa’s social games. Ana Vitória Azevedo was deputy provider. Before becoming one, she was a member of the Santa Casa Board (since 2021) with responsibility for internationalization. And in 2023 she was director of Nextlot, the company in Peru (partner of Santa Casa Global) that operated the Torito de Oro lottery.
However, Ana Vitória Azevedo washes her hands: “I had a lot of responsibilities [na Santa Casa]I could never follow internationalization in depth”.
“I was introduced to internationalization [aquando da provedoria de Edmundo Martinho] as a way of overcoming the issue of sustainability at Santa Casa. But everything had been built since 2019: the orders [ao Governo], The informations. I joined in January 2021. I don’t know the basic assumptions, what the financial plans are”, he explained to the deputies, remembering that “I was not against the project”, a project “with obvious goodness”.
“What I was against, and I say this clearly, was the lack of caution in which the project was being implemented. Forward it to the provider [Edmundo Martinho] and the minister [que tutelava a Santa Casa, Ana Mendes Godinho]. I was present at meetings, gave opinions, but did not follow [a internacionalização]”, ensures.
Returning to the dismissal, directly linked to the financial situation of Santa Casa, Ana Vitória Azevedo assures that alongside Ana Jorge “it was possible to resolve postponed problems”. However, she criticizes the dismissed provider for a decision that she considers “untimely”.
It happened last September, when Ana Jorge sent the preliminary conclusions of the audit of the internationalization business to the Public Ministry and the Court of Auditors. “The memo was just five pages long. It was precarious information. I shouldn’t have done it. An investigation was underway, which seems premature to me. This extemporaneity is contrary to the interests of Santa Casa. I understood that I didn’t see myself again in this new management cycle”, laments Ana Vitória Azevedo.
