What ULS Arco Ribeirinho does

ULS Arco Ribeirinho (Unidade Local de Saúde do Arco Ribeirinho, EPE) is a public healthcare entity created on January 1, 2024 through the merger of Centro Hospitalar Barreiro Montijo and ACES Arco Ribeirinho, under Decree-Law 102/2023. It operates as an integrated Local Health Unit within Portugal's Serviço Nacional de Saúde (SNS), serving approximately 235,155 registered users across the municipalities of Alcochete, Barreiro, Moita, and Montijo. The entity combines two hospitals — Hospital de Nossa Senhora do Rosário (Barreiro, operational since 1985) and Hospital do Montijo (operational since 1947) — with 22 primary care functional units, a Mobile Health Unit, and Domiciliary Hospitalization services, employing around 2,400 staff and delivering more than one million consultations annually.

The service portfolio spans hospital care (emergency, outpatient, inpatient, day hospital, surgery, oncology, radiotherapy with two linear accelerators), primary care (Family Health Units, Community Care Units, Public Health Units), and specialized programs including pediatric diabetes, palliative care, dental health, psychiatry, and clinical research through the UICAR unit. Technology investments include MRI and robotic surgery systems (€4.6M PRR-funded), a new linear accelerator for radiotherapy (€2.1M), PACS imaging systems, KANBAN VIRTUAL inventory management, and biometric attendance control. The entity is the sole public radiotherapy provider for the Setúbal Peninsula, serving over one million residents through referral agreements with three other ULS entities.

ULSAR generates no commercial revenue — it is funded exclusively through the Portuguese national health budget as a public business entity (EPE), with healthcare services subject to nationally regulated moderating fees (taxas moderadoras). Capital expenditure has been substantially supported by EU recovery and resilience funding (PRR) for equipment modernization across primary care, diagnostic imaging, radiotherapy, robotic surgery, palliative care, and psychiatry. The entity holds ISO 9001:2015 certification for procurement (15 consecutive years), ACSA accreditation for oncology, and operates under an integrated care model intended to reduce fragmentation between primary and hospital services within its geographic mandate.

Name

ULS Arco Ribeirinho

Legal name

Unidade Local de Saúde do Arco Ribeirinho, EPE

Website

https://ulsar.min-saude.pt

Company type

Public

Founded year

2024

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

ULS Arco Ribeirinho is a Portuguese public healthcare entity (EPE) operating two hospitals and 22 primary care units to serve approximately 235,155 residents across Alcochete, Barreiro, Moita, and Montijo municipalities. Funded by the national health budget, it delivers integrated primary, hospital, and specialized care including the Setúbal Peninsula's sole public radiotherapy service.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Barreiro

HQ country

Portugal

HQ region

Europe

Offices6 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. SNS Public Funding: As a public enterprise (EPE) within Portugal's Serviço Nacional de Saúde, ULSAR is funded through the national health budget. The institution does not generate commercial revenue. Financial sustainability depends on government allocations and extraordinary financial reinforcements, as evidenced by the 2024 closure with regularized financial situation following year-end extraordinary funding.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

ULS Arco Ribeirinho (Unidade Local de Saúde do Arco Ribeirinho, EPE) is an integrated Local Health Unit created on January 1, 2024, combining primary care and hospital care under a single public enterprise entity. It operates Hospital de Nossa Senhora do Rosário (Barreiro) and Hospital do Montijo, alongside 22 primary care functional units, serving approximately 235,155 registered residents across the municipalities of Alcochete, Barreiro, Moita, and Montijo in Portugal's Setúbal Peninsula.

Product overview

ULS Arco Ribeirinho (Unidade Local de Saúde do Arco Ribeirinho, EPE) is an integrated local health unit created on January 1, 2024 through the merger of Centro Hospitalar Barreiro Montijo (CHBM) and ACES Arco Ribeirinho, serving approximately 235,155 residents across the municipalities of Alcochete, Barreiro, Moita, and Montijo. The organization operates a dual-tier healthcare portfolio: Hospital Care (Cuidados de Saúde Hospitalares) at Hospital de Nossa Senhora do Rosário (Barreiro) and Hospital do Montijo, encompassing emergency services, outpatient consultations, inpatient care, day hospital (oncology/chemotherapy), and radiotherapy with two linear accelerators. Primary Care (Cuidados de Saúde Primários) provides services through 22 Functional Units including Family Health Units, Community Care Units, and a Mobile Health Unit. Specialized programs include Home Hospitalization (medical and surgical), Palliative Care, Dental Health, Pediatric Diabetes (with integrated insulin systems), Psychiatry and Mental Health, and Clinical Research (UICAR). Diagnostic imaging services cover conventional radiology, mammography, CT, and newly acquired MRI. The organization also publishes the institutional magazine 'Somos ULSAR' and operates a citizen portal integrated with the SNS.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Hospital Care (Cuidados de Saúde Hospitalares) Hospital care services delivered at two hospitals encompassing emergency, outpatient consultations, inpatient care across multiple specialties, day hospital (chemotherapy), and surgical services including inpatient and ambulatory surgery.
• Primary Healthcare (Cuidados de Saúde Primários) Primary healthcare services provided through 22 Functional Units including Family Health Units (USF), Personalised Healthcare Units, and Community Care Units (UCC). Provided 576,000 medical consultations and over 306,000 nursing consultations in 2024.
• Radiotherapy Service External radiotherapy treatments using linear accelerators supporting 3D Conformational, IMRT/VMAT, and SBRT techniques. Serves as the only public radiotherapy provider in the Setúbal Peninsula, covering over 1 million inhabitants from four ULS entities.
• Emergency Services (Urgência) 24/7 emergency care including General Emergency, Obstetric/Gynecology Emergency, and Pediatric Emergency for the ULSAR catchment area. Introduced a fixed medical team model innovative in the Portuguese NHS, improving Manchester Triage compliance to 67.6% in 2023.
• Maternity Services (Maternidade) Maternity services including obstetric care, labor and delivery, neonatal care, and childbirth preparation courses for women from the ULSAR area, with 1,362 births recorded in 2024.
• Robotic Surgery (Cirurgia Robótica)

Quantifiable outcome

• More than 1 million consultations performed in the first year of operation (2024)
• +7 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature8 records

Partnerships

20 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Câmara Municipal da MoitacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership between Câmara Municipal da Moita and ULSAR for the operation of the Mobile Health Unit (Unidade Móvel de Saúde), providing basic health screenings and health literacy to populations in rural areas of the Moita municipality.
• Câmara Municipal do MontijocoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAnnual partnership for the 'V Jornada de Saúde Sénior' and ongoing collaboration on the 'Viver Mais com Saber: Literacia em Saúde' program, including Ateliê Sénior and Academias Seniores projects for senior health literacy.
• Câmara Municipal da MoitacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe President of Câmara Municipal da Moita participated in the opening session of the 1st Nutrition Congress of ULSAR, held at Fórum Cultural José Manuel Figueiredo.
• Universidade de ÉvoracoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for the creation of a new Integrated Master's Degree in Medicine. ULSAR is one of 8 ULS entities partnering with the university for teaching, training, faculty exchange, curricular internships, and national/international research projects.
• ULS do Alentejo CentralcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner ULS in the joint master's program initiative led by Universidade de Évora for medical education.
• ULS Baixo AlentejocoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner ULS in the joint master's program initiative led by Universidade de Évora for medical education.
• ULS Litoral AlentejanocoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner ULS in the joint master's program initiative led by Universidade de Évora for medical education.
• ULS Alto AlentejocoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner ULS in the joint master's program initiative led by Universidade de Évora for medical education.
• ULS Almada-SeixalcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner ULS in the joint master's program initiative led by Universidade de Évora for medical education.
• ULS ArrábidacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner ULS in the joint master's program initiative led by Universidade de Évora for medical education. Also a key radiotherapy service partner.
• ULS LezíriacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner ULS in the joint master's program initiative led by Universidade de Évora for medical education.
• SáLimpaminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerCleaning company operating at Hospital de Nossa Senhora do Rosário and Hospital do Montijo using exclusively certified Ecolabel and Cradle to Cradle cleaning products. Their practices saved 140kg of petroleum, 64kg of plastic, and 438kg of CO2 emissions.
• ExtruplásminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCompany producing outdoor furniture from recycled plastic. Donated €40,000 worth of furniture (14 benches, 6 chairs, 2 decks) made from 1,210kg of recycled plastic for installation around Hospital de Nossa Senhora do Rosário.
• Associação AjudarisminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAssociation that visited the Pediatrics ward on World Children's Day, donating books compiled from stories written by children from across the country and illustrated by artists from the 'Juntos a criar histórias felizes' initiative.
• APDP - Associação Protectora dos Diabéticos de PortugalcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership in pediatric diabetes care. The Pediatric Diabetes team collaborates with APDP on diabetes Type 1 screening events and ongoing diabetes management for children and adolescents.
• UICAR - Unidade de Investigação Clínica do Arco RibeirinhocoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternal research unit promoting and coordinating clinical research at ULSAR. Organizes annual Research Day, manages research projects, partnerships, and annual research activity. Awards annual UICAR prize of €1,000 to recognize research excellence.
• Bombeiros Voluntários do BarreirominorStrategic or Co-development PartnerParticipated in emergency drill (simulacro) testing the Hospital's Internal Emergency Plan in December 2008, simulating fire evacuation.
• APCERcoreOthersCertifying body that awarded ULSAR's Procurement Service with ISO 9001:2015 certification, maintained for 15 consecutive years since 2009.
• Programa de Substituição de Equipamentos Médicos Pesados e Modernização e Inovação TecnológicacoreOthersNational program (Law of State Budget 2021) under which ULSAR acquired the new linear accelerator for radiotherapy (€2.1 million investment).
• PRR - Plano de Recuperação e ResiliênciacoreOthersEU recovery plan funding various ULSAR investments including: MRI system, robotic surgery (€4.6M total), primary care equipment modernization (€1.6M), dental chairs, palliative care, psychiatry, and CT scanner upgrades.

Scale indicators25 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Centro Hospitalar Universitário Lisboa Norte: Major university hospital center in Lisbon including Hospital de Santa Maria. Larger incumbent within the same national SNS framework, providing a benchmark for academic/teaching hospital scale and service breadth.
• Centro Hospitalar Universitário de Lisboa Central: Larger Lisbon-based public hospital center providing tertiary and quaternary care. Broader scope and catchment than ULSAR, but operates the same public EPE structure within the SNS — relevant comparator for operational scale and complexity.

Direct peers

• Hospital Garcia de Orta: Public hospital in Almada that historically referred radiotherapy patients to ULSAR (HNSR Radiotherapy service). Comparable public-sector hospital operator within the same Lisbon south-bank geographic cluster.
• ULS Arrábida: Another Portuguese integrated Local Health Unit (ULS) covering Setúbal Peninsula municipalities. Direct operational peer sharing radiotherapy referral pathways and the joint master's in medicine partnership with Universidade de Évora.
• ULS do Alentejo Central: Alentejo-region ULS, partner in the Universidade de Évora joint medical master's program. Directly comparable integrated public healthcare delivery organization.
• ULS Lezíria: Integrated Local Health Unit operating under the same Decree-Law 102/2023 framework. Co-partner in the Universidade de Évora joint medical master's program with comparable scope and structure.
• ULS Almada-Seixal: Adjacent ULS on the south bank of the Tagus, integrated primary + hospital care under the same national Decree-Law 102/2023 framework. Shares radiotherapy referral network and is a co-partner in the joint medical master's program.
• ULS Estuário do Tejo: ULS entity whose oncology patients are referred to ULSAR's radiotherapy service. Operates the same integrated primary + hospital care model under Portugal's SNS, making it a directly comparable regional peer.

Others

• APDP - Associação Protectora dos Diabéticos de Portugal: Specialized diabetes association that partners with ULSAR's Pediatric Diabetes team on Type 1 screening and ongoing management. Adjacent specialized provider rather than a directly competing entity.
• Universidade de Évora: Academic partner co-creating the new Integrated Master's Degree in Medicine with ULSAR and 7 other ULS entities. Comparable as an enabling ecosystem participant rather than a competing operator.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCkI6y_ROfpYfjURfS3x8E3Q
• Facebookfacebook.com/ulsarcoribeirinho
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/ulsar
• Instagraminstagram.com/uls_arco_ribeirinho

Compliance10 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles12 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about ULS Arco Ribeirinho