IPOV documents the model of the Casa della Salute della Donna, dell’Infanzia e dell’Adolescenza of Gorizia

Interview with the Director General of ASUGI and a case study led by the University of Udine and the Universitat Rovira i Virgili

Trieste–Gorizia, 2025

On 27 August, Patrizia Quattrocchi (University of Udine) met with Dr. Antonio Poggiana, Director General of the Giuliano Isontina University Health Authority (ASUGI), at the General Directorate headquarters in San Giovanni Park, Trieste. The interview is part of a qualitative study on the Casa della Salute della Donna, dell’Infanzia e dell’Adolescenza of Gorizia, developed within the international project IPOV – Respectful Care.

Inaugurated on 22 April 2024 in Basaglia Park, the Gorizia Health Center is a multifunctional facility that integrates services for women’s health across the life course and for child and adolescent health. The center includes counseling and guidance areas, welcoming environments and wellbeing spaces, including a pool used for activities with pregnant women, new parents and newborns. The center is coordinated by midwife Roberta Giornelli (ASUGI) and operates through ASUGI’s integrated network of professionals and the hospital facilities of Monfalcone and Gorizia.

The idea for the qualitative study emerged during a visit to the Health Center by Serena Brigidi as part of her IPOV secondments at the IRCCS “Burlo Garofolo” in Trieste (July–August 2025). On that occasion, the unique and highly innovative nature of the center—at regional, national and international level—became evident, thanks to the integration of services ranging from pool courses to gynecological and midwifery consultations. Based on these observations, Patrizia Quattrocchi and Serena Brigidi launched the case study, which will allow an in-depth analysis of the facility’s care characteristics and its present and future potential.

In the coming weeks, the team will conduct further interviews with midwives and other key stakeholders, with the goal of reconstructing the start-up process and organization of the Gorizia Health Center. In the coming months, the results are expected to be published and disseminated within the activities of the international partnership of IPOV – Respectful Care.