The Generalitat Announces Extension of Elx-Vinalopó Health Department Concession

The Health Minister, Marciano Gómez, announced on Wednesday the extension of the private concession for the Elx-Vinalopó health department after meeting the two required indicators and "red lines" that the quality indicators were "better than average" and the ability to "finalise settlements". At a breakfast briefing of the Fórum Europa Tribuna Mediterránea on Wednesday, he defended that, as they have met "the two conditions", the Health Department will extend the administrative concession contract for this department.

However, they are still "negotiating the terms" of the extension. The concessionaire company, Ribera Salud, will be required to "expand the hospital by between 70 and 100 beds or, alternatively, a new health centre" with "the necessary common services".

"And we will have strict control over the care and perceived quality indicators, as well as the requirement that the number of doctors be adequate and as close as possible to the ratios we have in the Valencian public health system," he specified.

During his speech, the Health Minister addressed the future plans of his department. In this regard, he recalled that when he took over the Health portfolio in the Valencian government, he stated that the "three problems" at both national and regional levels were "mental health, primary care, and staff shortages".

Regarding primary care, the Health Minister "would like to help more with something that I am told everywhere I go, which is to increase remuneration," he noted. For this reason, he has called on the Spanish Government for "better funding". Additionally, he has appreciated that "waiting times are being reduced" and indicated that the goal is to "eliminate them".

Regarding mental health, he highlighted "the commitment" of the President of the Generalitat, Carlos Mazón, in this "key" aspect. As evidence, the "pioneering plan in Spain" endowed with 724 million euros that has allowed the region to "lead in staffing".

In terms of healthcare personnel, he lamented that the Spanish Government and the "six Health Ministers" who have passed through in seven years have been "unable to address a global and endemic problem throughout the nation". He urged to tackle "this debate with rigour and firmness". "It is the umpteenth time I have asked Minister Mónica García to increase MIR places, but she does not," he criticised.

In this vein, he advocated for "providing 21st-century solutions to 21st-century problems" in an "innovative and disruptive" manner and, for this, to follow "strategic planning" criteria and to "evaluate and control everything we do". "I avoid making decisions without evaluating them," Gómez stated.