The São Sebastião Hospital started operating on January 4, 1999, following the publication of Decree-Law no. 151/98, of June 5. It was endowed with a legal statute that enshrined its own management model, constituting the first business management experience in the set of Hospitals of the National Health Service. Thus, it could resort to methods, techniques and instruments commonly used by the private sector, namely the celebration individual employment contracts, the allocation of incentives to professionals, the streamlining of the processes for the acquisition of goods and services and the contracting of financing with the Ministry of Health, according to the defined production objectives.
In 2002 it was transformed into a public limited company with exclusively public capitals, evolving in 2005 to a public corporate entity, as was the case with most hospitals in the National Health Service.
The São Sebastião Hospital is located in the northern part of the Aveiro District, a region where four more small hospital units are located, that is, the São João da Madeira Hospital, the São Miguel Hospital (Oliveira de Azeméis), the Hospital Francisco Zagalo (Ovar) and Hospital de Espinho, the latter integrated, in the 3rd quarter of 2007, at the Hospital Center of Vila Nova de Gaia / Espinho.
On February 1, 2009, as a result of the application of Decree-Law no. 27/2009, of January 27, Hospital de São Sebastião joined the Centro Hospitalar de Entre do Douro e Vouga, EPE, together with Hospital São João da Madeira and São Miguel Hospital (Oliveira de Azeméis).
Origin of the name São Sebastião
In the 16th century, the people of the Terras de Santa Maria, the name for which this vast region was known, victimized by outbreaks of plague, decided to make a vow to São Sebastião, in which they undertook to honor the saint on the day of his feast in exchange for protection. For that, they offered him three large sweet rolls – the fogaças – which were taken, in procession, from the castle to the mother church. Then, after being blessed, the bread was distributed to the poor. The tradition also says that the vow would have been fulfilled for more than 100 years and that, when it was interrupted, already in the 17th century, there would have been another outbreak of plague. Disgruntled, the population complained to the Municipality and, since then, the promise has never been broken. The procession takes place every year on January 20, the day of São Sebastião and a holiday in this municipality.