Marciano Gómez met with the management teams and service heads of the health departments of Orihuela and Torrevieja in Tuesday, as well as with the manager of the Alicante-Sur Interdepartmental Health Group
At the meeting he highlighted the measures necessary “to guarantee comprehensive and equitable care” in health authorities with difficult coverage such as Orihuela and Torrevieja.
He confirmed that the Ministry will now offer contracts of 1 to 3 years to retain the residents who complete their training in the Valencian Community, pointing out “the need to solve the lack of professionals” as one of the main demands to be met by his department at the Ministry of Health
He said that both authorities are considered as difficult to cover, problems that he hopes to resolve with the application of the new Decree Law of extraordinary measures aimed at guaranteeing comprehensive health care, and under conditions of equity in the Valencian Health System.
The departments of Orihuela and Torrevieja are integrated into the Alicante-Sur Interdepartmental Health Group, along with Elche-General Hospital and Elche-Crevillent. In this way, the objective is to search for synergies between the different departments, to offer better healthcare and continuity of care to patients.
Regarding the problem of a shortage of medical staff, the minister referred to the importance of “policies to build loyalty among residents and encourage professionals to take up those positions considered difficult to fill.”
According to Gómez, “the Valencian Community is an attractive community, and proof of this is that in the last MIR we have filled all the places, while in the entire national territory 450 places were initially left unfilled.” In addition, we are working on implementing loyalty measures for residents, such as the possibility of offering them contracts of one to three years at the end of the training period, depending on their specialty.
He went on to highlight the initiatives that have been adopted by the Ministry “because we are aware of the problem of the lack of professionals, especially in certain healthcare areas.” In fact, he recalled that there are places with budget allocation that we have not been able to cover, “for this reason, one of the main demands of the Ministry of Health is to solve this problem as soon as possible,” he confirmed.
During his visits to the Orihuela and Torrevieja hospitals, Marciano Gómez held a meeting with the managers of both health departments, Pedro Antón and José Gabriel Cano, respectively; as well as with the rest of the management teams and service heads, to exchange opinions and establish common objectives aimed at improving the quality of care.
This meeting is part of the round of meetings that the minister is carrying out in all health departments, “with the objective of establishing a participatory policy and dialogue to introduce common strategies, and for this we need to have the opinion of the professionals,” he stated.
Investments in Orihuela and Torrevieja
In terms of infrastructure, the Ministry is carrying out the expansion works at the Vega Baja Hospital in Orihuela, which has a budget of more than 62 million euros, which will allow the surface area to be increased by 40%, increasing from 36,300 square meters to 50,000 square meters.
With this expansion, hospitalisation capacity will also increase,with 52 more beds being made available. The work includes two new buildings located next to the main centre and connected to it. In this way, the outpatient clinics, the day hospital and mental health will be located in the north building while the south building will house a walk-in surgery area, digestive endoscopies and a hemodialysis area.
For this year 2024 the Ministry of Health also contemplates a budget item of more than eight million euros for the improvement and equipment of the health infrastructure of the Orihuela health department.
In Torrevieja, the Generalitat is going to allocate 4 million euros to improve infrastructure, equipment and technology.
Specifically, a new module will be launched for pharmaceutical care for outpatients of the hospital. Likewise, work on a new consultation room on the ground floor has already been completed and the Clinical Documentation and Admission Unit has been renovated.
In addition, projects to expand the hemodialysis service and the pharmacy clean room will be put out to public tender, and the clinical analysis laboratory will be upgraded.
Nearly three million euros will also be allocated to new equipment. Specifically, Torrevieja hospital will have new ultrasound machines for various services, a laparoscopic tower for general surgery, a surgical microscope and a laser for otorhinolaryngology (ENT).
