Regional Government opens tender to hand management of the Santa Teresinha Establishment in Ponta do Sol to a social institution for 20 years.
The Regional Government of Madeira has opened applications to select a institution from the social and solidarity sector to manage the Santa Teresinha Establishment in Ponta do Sol, a facility for elderly people. The chosen entity will take over the running of the facility and will receive, under commodato (free loan), the buildings and furniture assigned to the establishment, for a period of 20 years.
Dispatch No. 446/2026, signed on 6 November 2026 by the Regional Secretary for Inclusion, Labour and Youth, Paula Cristina Baptista Margarido, approves the notice opening applications. The dispatch takes effect on the day after its publication in the Official Journal. The notice, annexed to the dispatch, sets out the conditions of access and application.
The procedure covers, at the same time, the management of the social responses and the free transfer, for 20 years, of the immovable and movable property assigned to the establishment. An inventory of these assets is part of the notice.
The Santa Teresinha Establishment (EST) is an integrated establishment under the direct management of the Madeira Social Security Institute, IP-RAM (ISSM, IP-RAM), the regional social security body. It operates at Rua Outeiro, No. 6, in the Urbanização Santa Teresinha, parish of Canhas, municipality of Ponta do Sol. The building was constructed by the then Madeira Social Security Centre and inaugurated on 31 May 2004.
Six social responses aimed at elderly people operate in the establishment:
The ERPI is classified as a small-sized ERPI with a high level of dependency. The notice also sets a minimum human resources staffing level totalling 26.5 posts, including 14 direct care assistants in the ERPI and a technical director. This staffing level must be met by the entity that is selected.
ISSM workers who currently perform duties at the establishment may continue at the EST, if they accept, under a public interest secondment arrangement, with their salary paid by the original service. The service commission of the establishment's director remains on the same terms.
Private institutions of social solidarity, legally equivalent institutions and other private non-profit institutions may apply. To be admitted, the entity must be lawfully constituted and registered, have its social security and tax position in order, have adopted the accounting standardisation regime for the non-profit sector (SNC-ESNL), and have submitted its 2025 annual accounts to ISSM, IP-RAM.
The application must be accompanied by documents such as the statutes, the registration certificate, proof that the governing bodies are in office, the criminal record certificate of the holders of the governing bodies and proof of registration in the Central Register of Beneficial Owners (RCBE). A statutory declaration under oath is also required confirming the absence of irregularities arising from inspection or audit actions.
Applications are assessed against four criteria, each with a maximum score of 20 points: experience in social intervention (C1), experience in managing social responses (C2), social impact of the responses delivered (C3) and the amount of the entity's annual income (C4). Each criterion carries a different weight in the merit index: 0.20 for C1, 0.40 for C2, 0.25 for C3 and 0.15 for C4. Applications with a merit index below 10 are excluded.
In the event of a tie, ranking is based on the score for C2, then C3, then C1 and, finally, C4. An application is valid only for this procedure.
Ordinance No. 319/2026, of 16 July, authorised ISSM, IP-RAM to assume commitments between 2026 and 2031, up to a maximum overall value of EUR 2,487,158.40, arising from a typical cooperation agreement with the entity to be selected. This is a ceiling on expenditure, not a contracted price.
Funding is calculated per user and per month, with the following values currently set:
The cooperation agreement will be signed immediately after, or at the same time as, the management agreement between ISSM, IP-RAM and the selected institution.
Applications are sent from the applicant entity's institutional email address to [email protected]. The deadline is 20 working days, counted from the first working day after the notice is published. Clarification requests are sent to the same address.
The procedure stems from the Programme for the Conclusion of Management Agreements in the Autonomous Region of Madeira (PAGRAM), created by Ordinance No. 776/2022, of 24 November, and its regulations. Regional Government Council Resolution No. 732/2026, of 24 July, authorised the opening of the procedure. Cooperation between the State and social sector entities follows Decree-Law No. 120/2015, of 30 June. The establishment's internal regulations were approved by Normative Dispatch No. 1/2024.
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Ordinance authorises ISSM to commit 339,208.92 € between 2026 and 2029 to renew support for ASA in food aid and social reception services.