The Torrevieja manager of the Ribera Salud health department, has said that the recent ruling of the Supreme Court, that ruled on the reversals of the public administration contracts, annuls the reversal process initiated by the Generalitat last October, and obliges it, if it still wants to return the management of the authority into state hands, to start the process all over again from the very beginning with all the studies and reports that it entails.
This is something that would mean that the concessionaire would continue to manage the health authority with its health centres and the Torrevieja University Hospital, at least for a further twelve months.
The department made it’s official assessment of the Supreme Court ruling, published last Thursday, which, in the opinion of the health group, “sets out the rules for the reversal process of an administrative concession.”
The department manager, José David Zafrilla, said at a press conference, that the reversal process introduced by the Valencian Government for the Torrevieja Health Department “is being carried out illegally and unilaterally, without taking into account the consequences for residents or for public budgets, especially in the midst of an unprecedented health crisis”.
Based on “this Ribera Salud doctrine”, there are now more legal guarantees required, since the Supreme Court requires the opening of an administrative file that includes the prior assessment of financial and budgetary repercussions. “Otherwise, the administrative act is void,” said Zafrilla, which is why, he considers the decision, “to be excellent news for the entire Spanish concession sector.”
However, the regional administration interpretation of the same sentence is totally different from that of the concessionaire. PSPV- Compromís and Unides Podem-Esquerra Unida consider that the judicial resolution supports their way of acting when it comes to reversing the health concessions. The resolution says that despite the fact that the legislation does not specify what reports must be made, the Ministry of Health issued several studies on the cost of public-private management that justified the reversal.
