Tomás Rubio held a working meeting with Juan José Pedreño this Tuesday as the first contact between the new local government and the regional health authority, and to analyze the current state of healthcare in Cieza.
The mayor was accompanied by the councilor for Health, Daniel Lucas, in a meeting that also included Isabel Ayala and Andrés Torrente from the regional ministry.
“The main objective of the meeting was to assess the state of healthcare in Cieza and analyze the most pressing needs that the municipality has in this area,” Rubio said.
The mayor has confirmed that the City Council will begin the process of having the regional health authority take charge of the complete renovation of the Cieza Este Health Center, “a renovation long demanded by healthcare professionals and patients due to the current state of the facilities. I am particularly pleased about this, as the regional health minister has expressed his commitment to undertaking this project, which is essential for the city's healthcare.” For the regional government to carry out this project, the City Council will first need to transfer ownership of the building to the regional government, as it is currently municipal property.
Another request Rubio made to Pedreño was a solution to the parking shortage at the Vega Lorenzo Guirao Hospital. “The parking lot at our regional hospital has long been too small, to the point that, for several years now, it has been necessary to use a nearby park-and-ride facility. For this reason, it is urgent to develop a plan to provide more parking spaces for the outpatient clinic.”
The meeting also served to examine the process of declaring Health Area IX a hard-to-staff area with respect to certain services, in order to meet the region's healthcare needs. "On this specific matter, we will try to facilitate filling the necessary positions to provide quality care by utilizing specialists available to staff hard-to-staff centers. The Human Resources department of the Regional Ministry of Health is currently analyzing whether we meet the requirements to be included in this group of hard-to-staff centers and benefit from the solutions being implemented for them."
The councilor clarified that the aim is to secure the necessary reinforcements in Urology, Pediatrics, on-call radiology, operating room activity, etc. Another issue discussed was the possibility of providing space for the mental health center to separate from the Cieza Este Health Center and have its own independent facilities.
Finally, Tomás Rubio concluded by thanking Councilor Juan José Pedreño for "his willingness to address all of Cieza's demands in the health sector."
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