Torrevieja Mayor calls for the expansion of University Hospital

The Popular Party passed a motion that altered another brought by Vox on Monday in the usual plenary session of May, in which the City Council requests the Generalitat to extend and improve the Torrevieja University Hospital services.

Vox supported the text amended by the Popular Party municipal government, although the main argument of its initiative, the expansion through a public tender for a healthcare company to privately manage the department, was blurred and relegated to a secondary role in the motion of the government team chaired by Eduardo Dolón.

The Popular Party’s motion called for infrastructure improvements “regardless of the management model,” despite the fact that the Popular Party’s support for the concession to Ribera was one of its primary campaign banners in the May 2023 municipal elections. The Popular Party, along with the company, held protests seeking the concession.

The Popular Party also removed Vox’s claim that the current ones are “insufficient to provide an adequate service” and replaced it with “they need to be expanded.”

In their motion, Mayor Eduardo Dolón and his staff defend the concession model’s results but no longer call for its quick reinstatement. They state that, from its inception in 2006 until the concession was revoked in 2021, Torrevieja Hospital “was a prime example of efficient public-private management, characterised by high levels of healthcare quality as well as rationality and efficiency in the management of public resources.” This was acknowledged in the healthcare industry both within and outside of our boundaries.”

Health Councillor and physician Rosa Cañón defended the amendment, citing the most recent public management figures from the current Consell. However, Vox spokesperson Salvador Ruso argued that the increase in budget and staff did not result in improved service, but rather increased public spending. He even stated that doubling the headcount from 1,200 in 2021 to the current 2,200 does not imply that the workforce is performing better.

Cañón agreed with PSOE spokesman Bárbara Soler that the department’s current stats are improving “little by little” despite the challenging approach. She did, however, go on to defend public administration, citing its ability to invest in technology and efficient resources as superior to that of concessionaires. She did recollect that after rescuing the department, the Consell del Botànic neglected to invest any of the monies promised: €30 million in 2021, €25 million in 2022, and €17 million in 2023.

Salvador Ruso, for his part, believes that the increase in the budget from Ribera’s 150 million euros per year to the 230 million euros that the Generalitat directly contributes to the department, which also includes health centres and clinics in ten municipalities on the coast and pre-coast of the Vega Baja, translates into an improvement.

Ruso also stated that the department could soon have a registered population of 300,000, as Torrevieja and its neighbouring areas saw the fastest population growth in Spain since the epidemic. With the exception of those displaced, the department currently has 215,000 registered users with health cards.

For her part, PSOE spokesperson Bárbara Soler admitted that the reversion process was cumbersome and “could have been done better,” but that the concession agreement itself, reached with the PP governments and the concessionaire, provided little opportunity for manoeuvre. Despite similarities to Rosa Cañón’s statement, the PSOE refused to support a text that allowed privatisation. The reversal required time to stabilise, and present difficulties were blamed on a lack of investment by the Consell de Mazón. The PSOE pointed out that the Ribera concession was for a healthcare enterprise that prioritised profits above all else.

Pablo Samper from Sueña Torrevieja is dedicated to providing outstanding public healthcare, rather than focusing on financial accounts, business, emergency department problems, or outsourcing. “It’s for the care of the elderly” and a healthcare system that isn’t “for sale,” he said.