The Associazione Valmaggese Casa Anziani, Invalidi Adulti e Aiuto Domiciliare is the legal institution that since January 1, 2003, when the Institute is no longer part of the Cantonal Hospital Authority, has taken over entirely
the management of the Cevio Health Institute including also the Someo Home for the Elderly and the Home Care and Assistance Service for Vallemaggia.

The AVAD is directed by a Board of Directors consisting of 6 members, 5 elected by the Association Assembly consisting of 22 municipal delegates representing all municipalities and former municipalities in Vallemaggia
and 1 appointed every four years by the State Council.

Previously the Association was founded on May 1, 1986 for the purpose of providing the people of Vallemaggia with necessary and adequate home care and nursing services. Hence the acronym AVAD
(Valmaggese Association Home Aid) remained so even with the passage of time. In 1991, the Association was then renamed to Associazione Valmaggese Casa Anziani e Aiuto Domiciliare, as it took
over the management of the elderly home beds that were staying in the Cevio Hospital ward and the Someo facility.
Until December 31, 2002, AVAD managed the 30 Elderly Home beds in Cevio and the 14 beds in Someo, plus the Home Care and Nursing Service, which over the years has undergone an important and significant increase in
its activities.

The AVAD is now aware of the fact that the elderly home beds are now managed by the hospital in Cevio and the facility in Someo.

By now aware that the hospital facility as such would disappear and that the EOC would leave the management of the Cevio Institute, the logical scenario was for AVAD to take over the entire management
of the facility, and so it did. Through collaboration with the Department of Health and Social to partially compensate for the loss of acute and medium to long-term inpatient beds, the possibility of inserting new services in their
place was studied. The main concern, of course, was aimed at staffing, as this reconversion could have caused a reduction in the contingent. Thus, with the creation of the 15
High Health beds and the provision of 10 beds for adult invalids, the current health care facility called the Sociosanitary Center was created. In 2003, AVAD was then renamed again to
Associazione Valmaggese Casa Anziani, Invalidi Adulti e Aiuto Domiciliare. The philosophy of the institute can be found among the downloadable documents on this website. Currently AVAD, with its approximately 120 employees, is still the largest
employer in the Maggia Valley.

The Association has thus taken over in recent years the health management of the imposing Cevio facility, active as can be seen from the chapter related to the main milestones in the history of the Institute since the distant 1922
inauguration of the Valmaggese Hospital. The same then saw a major renovation in 1982 when it became part of the newly formed Cantonal Hospital Authority. More information and interesting facts about the
facility
of Cevio can be found in the brochure created on the occasion of the Institute's 75th anniversary, a copy of which can be downloaded from this site.

The outdated, though still splendid and imposing, facility in Cevio no longer met the current and future needs of health care activity. In addition, the materials with which the building was constructed no longer met current
safety standards especially with regard to fire regulations. The
current needs of the elderly, disabled and patients imposed significant structural changes to the building. These were all factors that prompted the
architects and members of the Vallemaggia Foundation, the owner of the building, to opt on the impossibility of having to intervene on the structure and thus to decide on the construction of a new institute.

After 5 years of construction (2008-2013), where we were "relocated" to 3 different facilities in Vallemaggia (Cottolengo Gordevio, Don Guanella Maggia and Artigianato Cevio as far as administration and physiotherapy were concerned)
in May 2013 we entered the new Institute which took the name "Residenza alle Betulle". During the years of construction, AVAD took charge and built two blocks adjacent to the main Institute,
where the offices of our Home Care and Nursing Service, the apartments of our Sisters and two sheltered apartments are located.