Italy launches integrated community health service “Punto Unico di Accesso”

In the Marche region, the new Casa della Comunità in San Severino hosted a press conference to launch the “Punto Unico di Accesso” (Pua), a joint health‑social service operated by the municipalities of San Severino, Matelica and Camerino together with the AST of Macerata. The Pua desk is open six days a week at three locations, staffed by a nurse and a social‑work assistant, and aims to provide coordinated assistance—especially for the elderly and people with disabilities—by handling medical, social and administrative needs in a single encounter. As Valeriani explained, “the first important aspect is that this service no longer forces people to go to one place and then another.” The same building also now houses a blood‑draw centre, improving accessibility for citizens.

In Piedmont, the ASL of Alessandria announced that its network of Casa della Comunità across the province is fully operational, each hub featuring a Pua desk where multidisciplinary teams (general practitioners, paediatricians, specialists, family nurses) assess needs and arrange examinations on site. Riboldi described the centres as “one of the most important structural revolutions of our regional health system.” The hubs operate with extended hours—some 24 hours for medical staff and at least 12 hours for nursing—targeting chronic conditions such as diabetes, cardiology and pulmonology, and are funded under the PNRR and DM 77/2022.