The President of the Generalitat, Juanfran Pérez Llorca, visited the University Hospital of Torrevieja yesterdat, Thursday 10th September, to announce an investment of more than 175 million euro for its expansion with new facilities, services and the incorporation of more than 650 professionals.
The project was presented to increase its built area by 30,000 square metres, a 75% increase, thanks to an adjacent plot of 11,492 square metres that will be ceded by the City Council of the municipality. This will allow it to respond to the current and future care needs in a health department that includes ten municipalities that have experienced a population growth that already exceeds 225,000 residents, which shows the need to attend to the demographic growth and the demand.
This expansion will increase the capacity of the centre, which opened in 2006, from the current 270 beds to 457, representing a 70% increase. Outpatient consultations will also be expanded by 150. Four operating rooms, new delivery rooms, and a day surgery unit will be added, and critical care areas will be reinforced with more ICU beds and more haemodialysis stations, among other improvements.
According to the master plan, the expansion will be carried out in three phases to guarantee the continuity of clinical activity, allowing two years for the drafting of the project and three for the execution of the works. In the words of Pérez Llorca, the expectation is that “it will be fully operational in six years.”
The first phase involves an investment of 87.4 million euro with the aim of improving healthcare capacity through the expansion and reorganisation of the main areas of the hospital. Once completed, the hospital will have 457 operational beds and a new specialist centre with support services, a day hospital, and 150 new outpatient clinics.
The second phase will focus on the reconfiguration of the existing building with a budget of 34.4 million euro, which will include the expansion of the surgical block with four operating rooms and new delivery rooms, among other facilities. The third phase is expected to involve an investment of 27.4 million euro to improve the roads around the perimeter and expand the parking area to a total of 1,370 spaces – currently there are just over 900 – a number that is still insufficient and which they are trying to increase.
The land for the expansion is located to the east, within the urban development plan of La Ceñuela, which has a series of plots for facilities, since to the north there are the salt flats, to the west there is a cluster of single family homes and to the south is the CV-95.
An extraordinary and urgent governing board meeting this Wednesday, the day before the president’s visit, gave final approval to the agreement for the early transfer of public land in the La Ceñuela area. The land, totalling 11,492 square metres, is owned by Explotaciones Agrícolas La Ceñuela, the company that also acts as the developer for the sector. The planned development includes a residential area with capacity for 1,347 homes and 3,387 new residents, as well as a commercial zone, educational facilities, and green spaces. The early transfer aims to expedite the availability of the land without having to wait for the completion of the urban land readjustment process, thus making it available to the regional ministry.
The transfer decree process began in July, starting with a public consultation period that concluded last Thursday. The process has now been resolved by rejecting objections raised by the Friends of the Southern Alicante Wetlands (AHSA), which cite a report by the director-conservator of the Torrevieja Natural Park. This report deems construction on the designated plots of land in the plan, located between the CV-95 highway and the lagoon, incompatible with the project. Furthermore, the land forms part of the corridor established by the Pativel plan between the lagoons and Lo Ferrís. This same criterion has been applied in recent years in other resolutions affecting the natural park.
The hospital expansion plan also includes the addition of 667 new professionals, of which 404 will be during phases I and II and 263 in phase III, with an estimated annual cost of 25.9 million euro.
The new hires will cover all categories: from specialist medical staff, special services and surgical nursing, imaging technicians, assistants, administrative and management staff, social workers and physiotherapists, among others.
The president explained that this project is complemented by other actions to respond to the increased demand for healthcare, such as the implementation of 12 new medical consultation rooms in prefabricated modules, which will be in service soon, and the reinforcement of staff with the incorporation of 188 healthcare personnel positions for this health department to speed up waiting lists.
Pérez Llorca concluded that it is “an ambitious project that will not be halted,” emphasising that “actions are not only announced, but actually carried out,” referring to the previous legislature in which, in his opinion, “fake projects were announced that didn’t even have a budget.” “That way of working is now a thing of the past,” he added, arguing that the leaders of an administration “must offer certainty and concrete results.”
When the works are finished, “we will have one of the largest hospitals in the Valencian Community,” the president concluded.
In this regard, the mayor of the municipality, Eduardo Dolón, stated that it is “a great day after many years of demanding the expansion, with many promises and breaches,” an action that “covers the growth for the next 20 or 30 years,” he remarked.
The head of the Consell also highlighted other improvement and expansion projects in different stages of development in the health centres of La Loma – in the concrete city -, Los Montesinos, San Miguel de Salinas, Guardamar del Segura, Pilar de la Horadada and Orihuela Costa.
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