"We will not have them all return at the same time", the regional secretary of Health, Mónica Seidi, explained to journalists at the end of a visit to the patients displaced to the Horta Hospital, on the island of Faial, who had to leave their island of residence to be able to undergo hemodialysis treatments due to the fire that hit the largest hospital in the Azores on May 4. According to the minister, the return to Ponta Delgada of the approximately 30 patients displaced to the Horta Hospital will be based on "clinical and social" criteria, but also "safety" criteria, which are still dependent on the results of the analyzes carried out on the quality of the water at the Hospital do Divino Espírito Santo (HDES). "It will be a gradual and slow resumption, always based on safety criteria", insisted the head of the Health portfolio in the archipelago, who today visited, for the first time after the catastrophe, the patients who were displaced from São Miguel to Faial, to give them a "word of appreciation, comfort and safety". Mónica Seidi acknowledged that these patients "are being very well treated", but understands that some of them miss "home and their family", adding that soon they will all be able to return home, "as soon as all the safety conditions are met". The minister said that analyzes have already been carried out on the waters in the HDES, which seem to be "in accordance with the specific parameters for hemodialysis treatments", but added that the Regional Secretariat of Health is now awaiting the results of the counter-analysis. "As we are talking about treatments with enormous complexity and risk, we have to be sure that everything is fine and it is always necessary to have a confirmation of the first results", insisted the minister. The fire in the Ponta Delgada hospital, which broke out at 9:40 am local time (10:40 am in Lisbon) and was only declared extinguished at 4:11 pm, forced the transfer of all patients who were hospitalized to various locations in the Azores, Madeira and mainland. At the time of the fire, there were a total of 333 patients in the health establishment, and 240 had to be transferred. The Government of the Azores declared a situation of public calamity to "accelerate procedures" that would allow the activity of the largest Azorean health unit to be normalized in a "short period of time". Read Also: Ponta Delgada resumes external consultations on Tuesday except for pediatrics (Portuguese version)