Left-wing parties Compromís and Cambiemos Orihuela have accused the Valencian regional government of deliberately hollowing out public healthcare in Orihuela to pave the way for a new private hospital run by Ribera Salud.
After meeting with health unions in Orihuela, the parties claimed the regional Health Department has been systematically weakening the public system since the People’s Party took power in mid-2023. They point to unpaid “hard-to-fill” bonuses for doctors, unfilled vacancies and what they describe as a “critical” lack of emergency cover.
Leticia Pertegal, spokesperson for Cambiemos Orihuela, said doctors are legally entitled to incentives of up to €10,000 to work in difficult-to-cover areas—but the payments are not being made. She also warned that Orihuela effectively has no local SAMU emergency ambulance service, meaning life-saving response times can stretch to an hour as units travel in from Torrevieja or Guardamar del Segura.
Carles Esteve, Compromís health spokesperson in the Valencian parliament, went further, branding Orihuela “a testing ground for new forms of privatisation”. He accused the PP of letting public services deteriorate so patients are pushed toward private providers, including Ribera Salud, which plans to open a new hospital in Orihuela Costa.
The parties also criticised the absence of pressure from the city’s mayor and health councillor, accusing them of standing by while clinics in outlying districts face closure and staff shortages grow.
“This is about human lives, not business,” Pertegal warned. “Orihuela’s public healthcare is being turned into an experiment—and residents are paying the price.”
