The PSOE councillor, María García, has criticised Orihuela Council’s decision not to include, in the November plenary session, the transfer of the land, thought to be the plot just beyond the medical centre, currently used as a car park, which is necessary for the extension to the Orihuela Costa Health Centre, announced on 18 November.
García said that “we are pleased that the current Department of Health still intends to go ahead with the expansion of the Health Centre on the coast, something that we spoke about in the September Plenary Session. The project has been maintained within the health investments, the drafting of the the project is at an advanced stage and it would be a shame to take this investment out of the regional budget. What we do not understand is why the Orihuela Council, has not included the transfer of the land into this month’s plenary session.”
García explained that “We know that this file is ready to be moved forward and that is why, in September, we asked the council to elevate it to a full plenary session. However, the Councilor for Health, Irene Celdrán, preferred to defend the political project for a second Health Centre, originally proposed by Ribera Salud and the previous mayor, Emiliano Bascuñana.
In order to have two health centres, there must be 25,000 registered people with SIP cards, whereas in Orihuela Costa there are only 17,000 actually registered.
The argument being made by the City Council, however, which they hope will have an impact, is that the large non-registered population that usually resides in the coastal and floating urbanisations, and which triples during holiday periods, must also be considered. “We must not forget the many thousands of people who arrive in the area to visit their second homes, and who might well need to see a doctor,” Councillor Celdrán said.
She added that, in addition to the extension project being insufficient to serve the entire registered and resident population, using the parking lot, where the expansion would go, would also create a massive problem for user access.
Users have been protesting for many years about the inability to park, particularly on Thursday Market Day, in an area close to the Orihuela Costa Medical Centre. Extending the centre into the current car park would make it impossible.
