Guilhermina Rego: “We Cannot Look at Health From an Exclusively Economic Perspective”

Guilhermina Rego is the principal investigator of the ManEthicS research group and Assistant Professor of the Department of Community Medicine, Health Information and Decision (MEDCIDS) of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto. She went through politics and landed in the Douro and Leixões Ports Administration (APDL), where she held positions of great responsibility. Her energy comes from her family, her great passion.

She was born and raised in Porto, where she still lives. She wanted to be a teacher and a doctor, but Business Management ended up winning her preference, which contributed to the family’s proximity to the business area. She graduated from the Portucalense University, and earned her Master degree in Finance and her Doctorate in Business Sciences from the Faculty of Economics of the University of Porto. She is the founder of the Portuguese Association of Bioethics and integrates several international scientific associations, namely the International Society on Priorities in Health Care. She has published several books. Some of the most important are “Priorities in Health” and “Business Management of Public Services”.

Her specialization in the field of Health reveals much about her humanistic concerns. “From an early age, it was my understanding that we cannot look at the Health area the way many may still look today, from an exclusively economic perspective,” she says.

Politics came into her life in 2009, at the invitation of Rui Rio. She was a member of the Porto City Council from 2009-2013. Since 2013, already with the City Major Rui Moreira, she held the positions of city councilor and vice-president. “When you accept a challenge to fulfill a mission, with principles, transparency and seriousness, politics becomes similar to research,” she says.

In 2017, she accepted the invitation to take over the APDL Presidency. She talks passionately about what she is doing today, but she still works as professor and researcher. “I have always assumed that I would maintain the link between teaching and research. Those are my roots and the University of Porto is my home”, she justifies.

What is your 1-Year Ambition?

At the moment, there are a number of important challenges to address within the APDL. Some are related to the actual implementation of investments that can continue to guarantee the solutions that will satisfy the world market, in response to what the Marine Minister, Mrs. Ana Paula Vitorino, has advocated for port competitiveness.

What is your 10-Year Ambition?

I would like to go back to my research on changing the management principles of hospital units and transforming most of public hospitals into hospital corporations, and eventually, into Corporate Public Entities (EPE in Portuguese).

After all these years, there are variables that already have enough history to accurately perceive, in an objective and dispassionate way, where and how the change worked, what has improved and what is still there to be improved. As researchers we have an obligation to provide results to decision-makers.

How is life beyond research?

I am a mother, spouse, sister, aunt, friend…There is a group of people who deserve my utmost attention, care and dedication. They are my source of energy, my passion.