Four hospitals from the health plan operator Hapvida begin this Friday (16) to serve patients through the Unified Health System. Around 300 visits will be made per month in units located in the capital and in the cities of Niterói and Duque de Caxias. 
The operator signed a contract with the Ministry of Health to integrate the Agora Tem Especialistas program, which allows the conversion of debts owed by SUS plans into specialized care. Therefore, it will offer R$4.8 million in gynecological, cardiological and oncological surgical and outpatient procedures.
Referrals will be made by the State Department of Health and municipal departments.
With the adhesion of new Hapvida hospitals, the program reaches the mark of 187 approved debt conversion proposals. In addition to health plans, agreements have already been signed with independent private and philanthropic hospitals. The objective is to expand the provision of medium and high complexity services in priority areas for the public network.
In 2025, 28 private or philanthropic hospitals began offering specialized care for the SUS, totaling R$150 million in agreed consultations, exams and surgeries. By the end of January, the Ministry of Health hopes to announce new contracts that should increase this amount to R$200 million.
Health carts
The acting Minister of Health, Adriano Matsuda, participated in the contract signing ceremony with Hapvida this Friday in Niterói (RJ), where he also announced the inauguration of another trailer from the Agora Tem Especialistas program. In addition, vehicles that are already in use are on the move again to serve new locations.
“Starting today, new Brazilian municipalities will receive mobile units from the federal government program, which have been positioned in regions that are difficult to access and with a high demand for specialized assistance. In total, there are 41 trucks serving all Brazilian states and the Federal District. They shorten distances and guarantee specialized assistance service with shorter waiting times”, stated Adriano Massuda.
In addition to arriving in the Rio de Janeiro cities of Niterói and Mesquita, the trucks moved to Boa Vista (RR), Taguatinga (DF), Palmeira dos Índios (AL), Santana do Ipanema (AL), Manicoré/Distrito de Santo Antônio do Matupi (AM), Conselheiro Lafaiete (MG), Virgem da Lapa (MG), Várzea Grande (MT), Vitória de Santo Antão (PE) and São Raimundo Nonato (PI).
The program’s trailers are vehicles adapted to serve as health units, with all the necessary equipment to carry out ophthalmological care, gynecological examinations and imaging. More than 1,200 cataract surgeries were performed in the ophthalmology units.
Mobile units help to reinforce service in places that are difficult to access, or cities with long queues for certain procedures. By the end of this year, the Ministry hopes to have 150 Agora Tem Especialistas trucks traveling around the country.
