Our History

The Irmã Dulce Social Works (OSID) was born on May 26, 1959, with the sister of Bahia as its founder, known as the Good Angel from Brazil. The institution is the result of her love and service trajectory and her persistence of pilgrimage for more than a decade in search of a place to shelter the sick and poor gathered from the streets of Salvador. The OSID roots date back to 1949, when the Sister, with nowhere to go with 70 sick people, asked permission from his superior to shelter the sick in a chicken coop next to the Santo Antonio Convent. The episode gave rise to the tradition that the largest hospital in Bahia was born from a simple chicken coop. 

Actually, the philanthropic institution houses one of the biggest 100% SUS health complexes in the country, with about 3,5 million outpatient visits per year to users of the Unified Health System (SUS), the elderly, people with disabilities and craniofacial deformities, social patients, street people, users of psychoactive substances and children and adolescents in a social risk situation. The organization has a unique service profile in the country, distributed in 21 centers that assist the low-income population in the areas of Health, Social Assistance, Scientific Research, Health Education, Education and the preservation and diffusion of the history of its founder.

Also known as the Roma Complex, the headquarters of OSID in Salvador is home to 20 of its 21 nuclei, in its 40 thousand square meters of built area, including 954 hospital beds for the treatment of clinical pathologies and surgical conditions. Of these centers, 19 are active in the field of Health, such as the Santo Antônio Hospital, Geriatric Center, Children's Hospital, High Complexity in Oncology Unit, Disability Reception Center and Specialized Rehabilitation Center and the Reception and Treatment of Alcoholics Center. Only in the Roma Complex, about 2 million outpatient visits are accounted per year - half of the volume reached by the entire organization in the state.

Still in the headquarters of the Social Works, a place that serves about 2 thousand people daily, 12 thousand surgeries are carried out per year, in addition to 17 thousand hospitalizations. Also in Salvador, OSID is responsible today for 5% of outpatient procedures and 9% of hospital admissions in the city. Currently, more than 4,000 professionals work in the organization, with more than 2,000 employees in the Bahian capital complex, where 320 doctors and 125 volunteers work.

Comprehensive, multidisciplinary and humanized care is one of the characteristics of the care provided by the Irmã Dulce Social Works. These actions cover the entire spectrum of health care and include basic care, 44 medical specialties, laboratory and bio imaging examinations, hospitalization, high complexity surgeries and rehabilitation. The Center for Clinical Research and the Teaching and Research Center Professor Adib Jatene, dedicated to the areas of Research and Teaching in Health, are also highlighted. As a school hospital, OSID also offers medical internships and 16 programs in medical residencies, in addition to Multiprofessional Residency in Health Care for the Elderly and Residency in Dentistry.

Also in Salvador, there is the 20th nucleus of OSID, the Memorial Irmã Dulce, a permanent exhibition on the life and legacy of the institution's founder. Inaugurated in 1993, one year after the death of the nun from Bahia, the nucleus is located in a building adjacent to the Santo Antônio Convent, at the Works' headquarters. The visit to the memorial also extends to the Blessed Dulce of the Poor Shrine, located next to the OSID headquarters, where the grave of the Good Angel of Brazil is located.

In the municipality of Simões Filho, in the Metropolitan Region of Salvador, works the 21st nucleus: the Santo Antônio Educational Center (CESA). The unit assists, in partnership with the State and Municipal Education Departments, 734 children and adolescents in situations of social vulnerability, providing education from the first to the ninth year, as well as access to art education, digital inclusion, sports activities, dental care, food, free uniforms and school supplies. This place also has a sustainability unit, the Bakery Center, responsible for the production and marketing of various types of breads, panettones and other products.

OSID also operates in the management of external health units, being responsible today for the administration of three public complexes, all located in Bahia and with a link to the State Government: Western Hospital (Barreiras), Eurides Sant'anna Hospital (Santa Rita de Cássia) and Regional Hospital Dr. Mário Dourado Sobrinho (Irecê). The entity also responds to the Dulce of the Poor Sisterhood Center, located in the Historic Center of Salvador, which focuses on assistance to people suffering from psychic diseases and social vulnerability, including users of psychoactive substances and street people, as well as Care to families living in the neighborhood and clients referenced by the SUS network.

To keep this great work alive, the institution has resources from the Unified Health System and agreements with state agencies, as well as donations and sales of products. Faithful to Sister Dulce's inherited mission, "Love and Serve," the organization expanded its reach and professionalized itself without giving up its values. Its management is structured based on Strategic Planning and accumulates awards and certifications such as ISO 9001: 2008 (national reference for the certification of Quality Management Systems), Efficient, Top Social, Queen Sofia and Queen Letizia.