New Family Health Unit Planned for Silves Municipality

Silves municipality is in line for the Algarve’s first family health unit run by a private operator inside Portugal’s public health service, under a plan that took a significant step forward in September. The contract with Knokhealth Portugal, Lda is worth around 2.9 million euros over five years and is intended to provide family doctor coverage for roughly 7,750 patients in the municipality who currently have no médico de família assigned. September reporting put the expected opening at the end of 2026, pending approval from the Tribunal de Contas, Portugal’s Court of Auditors. At the time of writing that approval had not been confirmed, and it is also not yet confirmed whether the unit’s premises will be in Silves itself or in São Bartolomeu de Messines.

The unit would be a Unidade de Saúde Familiar, or USF, modelo C, a category created under a 2024 government rule allowing the social or private sector to run family health units in areas that have gone more than a year with GP coverage below the national average, and where at least 4,000 people have no family doctor. Silves has long been one of the Algarve’s worst-affected municipalities on this measure. Once open, the unit is due to run from 8am to 8pm on weekdays, with an average waiting time target of five working days for an appointment.

Silves may not be alone for long, although Lagos is moving more slowly. A first tender for a second, larger unit there, intended to cover around 13,450 patients at a cost of roughly 5.2 million euros, was not awarded, and September reporting said a new tender was planned. Crucially for patients, nothing changes about how a USF modelo C is used: it operates inside the SNS and under the same rules, including the same user fees, as any other health centre, even though a private company runs the building and staffs it.

For families in Silves municipality without a médico de família, this is one to track rather than act on yet. The opening date and the registration arrangements are still awaiting confirmation: official guidance says patient registration follows criteria set by the local health authority, so watch for announcements from the Unidade Local de Saúde do Algarve. Until then, the usual routes, SNS 24 on 808 24 24 24 or your local health centre’s e-balcão, remain the way to get care without a permanent GP.