Orihuela Costa left without a new medical centre
The budget includes the expansion of the Cabo Roig outpatient clinic, but not the construction of a new one
Residents of Orihuela Costa have been waiting for five long years for a solution to their healthcare shortfall. The current medical centre in Aguamarina at the back of Cabo Roig strip, which serves a population of 30,000 registered locals year-round, can’t possibly cope with the demand and the building itself is just short of dilapidated at this point.
The promise of a second health centre, made repeatedly by regional President Carlos Mazón during his election campaign, seems to have been nothing more than a hollow promise. The latest budget from the Generalitat Valenciana includes funds for the expansion of the existing Aguamarina outpatient clinic, but there's no mention of a new health centre.
According to the Unidos por la Costa neighbourhood association, “this reflects improvisation, a lack of planning and the empty messages constantly issued by the City Council and the autonomous community regarding Orihuela Costa.”
As it stands, only €150,000 has been put aside to extend the Aguamarina facility into the adjacent car park, despite the fact that Orihuela City Council has allocated a 12,000-square-metre plot of land in Los Altos for a second medical centre. For most people living locally, two facilities – one to serve the north of Orihuela Costa and one for the south – is the more practical option, but this appears to have been taken off the table.
“Can someone explain this mess? Who's lying here? Or who's the incompetent who can't manage even the most basic things?” a Unidos por la Costa spokesperson has asked.
In search of answers, the association is waiting to meet with the Director General of Economic Management, Contracting and Infrastructure of the Ministry of Health, Pedro Manuel López Redondo, who has offered to explain in detail the procedures being carried out for the construction of a new health centre.
Meanwhile, plans for a private hospital located near Villa Martin are well underway, but this is unlikely to impact queues at the public health centre.
In other news: Orihuela Costa potholes will finally be filled
Image: Nikolay Khalchenya via Google Maps
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