City Hall inaugurates new trauma unit at Andaraí Hospital.

The Rio de Janeiro City Hall and the Federal Government inaugurated, this Friday (March 13th), the new building for the trauma sector of the Andaraí Hospital emergency room. With the capacity to handle 300 patients per day, the new facilities are adapted and equipped for specialized care of victims of traffic accidents, falls, gunshot wounds, fractures, and other traumas, and will allow for better patient flow, especially for those with serious conditions requiring complex interventions in the emergency room. The new facilities of the medical clinic sector on the third floor, which underwent a complete renovation, were also delivered.

"My greatest pride is what I built, alongside President Lula, during my 14 years in office, in the city of Rio's healthcare system. In those 14 years, we doubled the number of healthcare units in the city. And that would have been impossible without the SUS (Unified Health System) and without a president with the political will to understand where the good projects and initiatives were. It was frustrating to see what was happening at the Cardoso Fontes and Andaraí hospitals. With the partnership signed just over a year ago, the Federal Government provided all the money for the annual operating costs of these hospitals and all the money necessary for investments. It is up to the City Hall to manage the two hospitals," stated the mayor of Rio, Eduardo Paes.

The inaugurations are another step in the restructuring process of the Andaraí Hospital, the largest hospital complex in the state of Rio, resulting from a partnership between the Municipal Health Department (SMS) and the Ministry of Health. The total investment from the Federal Government is R$ 607 million.

"With a quality hospital, the people are the ones who benefit. We can't leave the people in second place. The priority must be providing services to the people. This hospital will function to care for the population," said President Lula.

Increase in the number of hospitalizations and surgeries.

The Rio de Janeiro City Hall took over the management of the Andaraí Hospital in December 2024, and since then, the unit has been undergoing a series of works and improvements that have already resulted in increased production from 2024 to 2025. This includes the number of hospitalizations, which increased from 5.754 to 6.457; and surgeries, which rose from 3.420 to 4.637, driven by the restructuring of the surgical center, which was expanded from just three to 12 operating rooms.

"This hospital has a very beautiful history. It housed the first burns unit in Brazil, but many people said that, being a hospital from 1945, it was outdated and couldn't be improved anymore. But it wasn't an outdated hospital, it was an abandoned hospital. Today, the Andaraí Hospital and the federal hospitals in Rio have been returned to the people," declared the Minister of Health, Alexandre Padilha.

The impact on the network is also visible in the number of first-time appointments offered through SISREG, which skyrocketed from 576 to 4.292, and in the bed occupancy rate, which increased from 84% to 96%. In 2025, the hospital performed 321.575 complementary exams and 59.259 imaging exams. Today, the unit has a workforce of 4.698 professionals, 3.941 of whom were hired by the current municipal administration. With the improvements made under the administration of the Rio de Janeiro City Hall, the municipal health network will also begin to offer new services, such as bariatric surgery and oncology itself.

The new trauma unit building has three floors and consolidates the unit's new emergency room, breaking with a recent past of neglect. The precarious situation in the complex was profound: in addition to the emergency room being closed for ten years, the unit suffered from completely damaged facilities, with operating room suites being used as storage and a large amount of unusable material occupying strategic care areas. One of the first measures of the new management was the reopening of the emergency room, still in February 2025, although initially in a temporary space. In December, the Andaraí Regional Emergency Center (CER Andaraí), the new clinical emergency room for adults and children, was inaugurated. In just over a year, approximately 44,5 patients have already been treated in the sector.

 

The first floor of the new building has 14 specialized beds distributed in exclusive bays for the care of trauma victims. Ambulances will arrive at the unit through a new entrance on Rua Gastão Penalva, dropping off patients directly in the care area. Patients arriving by their own means will access the hospital through the Andaraí Emergency Care Unit (CER) and, if a trauma case is confirmed, will be taken to the new bays.

On the second floor is the general reception area, for people attending scheduled appointments at the outpatient clinic, visiting hospitalized patients, or seeking information. This floor also has a cafeteria where both users and employees can grab a quick bite or purchase other items. The third floor features a multi-purpose space for meetings, continuing education courses for hospital staff, lectures, or other similar activities.

The medical clinic sector on the 3rd floor underwent a complete renovation, with structural improvements and re-adaptation of environments. The space houses 36 beds, of which 26 are in the ward; eight in the ICU (intermediate care unit); one in the isolation ICU and one in the isolation ward. During the works, medical clinic services were relocated to other sectors of the hospital.

– Today we are reclaiming the history of this hospital, which has already saved many lives, by inaugurating this new trauma center. When a person suffers an accident or is the victim of a stray bullet, they are at the most critical moment of their life. This trauma unit will take care of people at that moment, when it will ultimately decide whether the patient will live or die – said the municipal Secretary of Health, Daniel Soranz.

During the event, the digital workflow dental prosthesis service was also presented, a strategy that seeks to modernize oral rehabilitation within the Unified Health System (SUS). With eight sets of equipment received from the Ministry of Health—including scanners, 3D printers, and curing machines—the Municipal Health Department (SMS) will be able to produce an additional 150 prostheses per month. The equipment will contribute to expanding access to dental prostheses in the municipal health network, which produced more than 7 prostheses in 2025, including both digital and analog ones.

History of the restructuring

Through a partnership between the Municipal Health Department and the Ministry of Health, the unit is experiencing a new reality, with services and care capacity progressively increasing. Sectors already inaugurated after complete restructuring include the new Andaraí Emergency Care Center (CER); the hospital restaurant, which had been closed for 12 years; and the 12th floor, which gained a fully modernized auditorium. Also delivered were the new orthopedics department on the second floor, and improvements to the Burn Treatment Center (CTQ), which was operating precariously and is now one of the best in the country; the Intensive Care Unit (CTI), now with 23 beds; and the outpatient clinic. The oncology sector also received improvements and, with the installation of the linear accelerator, began performing radiotherapy, expanding the service offered to the population. A new tomography machine was also installed, doubling the capacity for performing the examination.

With six buildings, the Andaraí Hospital is the largest hospital complex in the State of Rio de Janeiro, offering 27 specialties, ranging from neurosurgery, orthopedics, vascular, general and plastic surgery, to specialties such as coloproctology, mastology, rheumatology, urology and maxillofacial surgery. To expand access to diagnosis, the arrival of a special CT scanner for super-obese patients is also planned.

Structural reforms are ongoing, with the expectation that the entire hospital will be restructured by the end of the first half of 2026.

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March 13th, 2026

Appointments: Andarai Hospital inauguration City Hall of Rio trauma department