On Friday 21 June at Forte dei Marmi there began an experimental  project for health care created by cooperation between the Camillians and Welfare Italia Servizi, a consortium of social cooperatives.

This involves a new dental centre, the Fortis Dental Centre, which offers services of excellence at social prices for families in economic difficulty that are resident in the local area.

F. Paolo Guarise, Vicar General of the Order of the Ministers of the Sick, explained how this project, together with many others, sprung from a document that arose from the meeting, of more than a year ago, of the Union of General Superiors (USG) with the International Union of Superior Generals (UISG) to discuss the future of Catholic health care with the Congregations that manage social/health-care services, for example the Ministers of the Sick.

The Fortis Centre offers services in dentistry at 30% less than the market price. An initiative for families with less resources for whom one of the first consequences of the economic crisis is having to cut expenditure on dental care.

Other institutions and Congregations, Fr. Guarise went on to explain, have expressed a wish to follow the same policy.

The commitment of the Camilllians to moving out of the crisis and making health a right for everyone and sustainable is as strong and as constant as ever.

[From an article by Paolo Lambruschi published in the newspaper Avvenire on 23 June 2013 which you can read here]