Valencian president Juanfran Pérez Llorca has announced plans for a new hospital for patients requiring long-term care in the Vega Baja, potentially giving the region a third hospital.
The proposed centre would have a different role from the general hospitals in Orihuela and Torrevieja. Existing hospitals of this type in the Valencian public health system treat patients with complex conditions who require continued hospital care.
However, the Generalitat has not specified which services the Vega Baja hospital would offer or how patients would be referred to it.
Nor has it announced a site, a bed capacity, a budget for the individual project or a construction timetable. Those details will determine how much additional care the proposal ultimately provides for Vega Baja residents.
The proposal was the most significant announcement for the Vega Baja in Monday’s general policy debate in the Valencian parliament. Pérez Llorca presented it as part of the regional government’s €2.459 billion Pla Avancem Salut healthcare plan, which aims to add more than 2,000 hospital beds across the Valencian Community. Of those, 368 are forecast for Alicante province by the end of 2026.
The president also announced plans to renovate Torrevieja University Hospital, where concerns have been raised over investment since 2023, and Doctor Balmis Hospital in Alicante. He pledged to strengthen primary care through work on 32 health centres, including facilities in Cox, Los Montesinos, Redován and Pilar de la Horadada.
For Vega Baja residents, however, the new hospital announcement leaves substantial questions unanswered. The regional government has not identified a site or set out what services the proposed long-term care hospital would provide. Nor has it given a construction timetable.
Transport also featured in the president’s plans for the region. Pérez Llorca put the estimated cost of widening the CV-95 between Orihuela and Torrevieja at €180 million. The scheme remains at the design stage, with a contract award not expected before 2028. An upgrade to the road has been in discussion since the 1990s.
Elsewhere in Alicante province, Pérez Llorca said the remaining section of the Elche Southern Ring Road would enter public consultation at the end of October. Elche Council said it was working on land expropriations and that the construction tender would be worth at least €36 million.
For now, the Vega Baja hospital remains a pledge rather than a defined building project. The next milestones to watch are the selection of a location, confirmation of its clinical services and capacity, and publication of a funded timetable.
