Healthcare company sets out its stall
Ribera Salud's investment plan would run until 2026
THE PRIVATE company Ribera Salud – which runs Torrevieja healthcare area – is continuing to try to apply pressure on the Valencia regional government to extend their concession to run the public service.
Regional government chiefs have reiterated in recent months that they will stick to their plan to take the hospital and healthcare department back under public control, with Valencia vice-president Mónica Oltra stating that ‘healthcare is not a business, it’s a fundamental right’.
Ribera Salud – which is owned by the US-based Centene Corporation – will be officially notified in October that their concession will end a year later in 2021, according to the health department.
However, despite this – the company organised a high-profile presentation last Thursday evening at Torrevieja’s municipal theatre of an investment plan that would run until 2026.
Manager of Torrevieja healthcare department Eva Baró told the audience that they were offering €40 million in investment.
She recognised that ‘it is the decision of the Valencia government whether to extend the contract’ – but noted that they want to continue running the service. According to the manager, they have provided healthcare of the highest level – particularly during the Covid-19 pandemic – and Torrevieja has the lowest waiting times in the region.
Sra Baró asserted that ‘profound changes’ will be needed in the future and the money they have promised will mean ‘the largest investment per capita in the whole of the Valencia region’.
Some of the services they would hope to offer include the launch of a home care service for vulnerable people.
They would also have €23.4 million available for infrastructure and equipment, she said.
This would include €6 million for a new health centre in Orihuela Costa and improving access to their installations for people with mobility problems.
Ribera Salud also claimed that the regional audit office had found that Torrevieja hospital was ‘the most efficient and has the best healthcare results’ of all the public hospitals in the region.
The presentation was attended by Torrevieja mayor Eduardo Dolón and provincial president Carlos Mazón (both Partido Popular – PP), who have both spoken in favour of keeping the current management model of the healthcare area.
'Immoral' stance
However, the provincial Socialist party (PSOE) has hit out at the stance taken by Sr Mazón, saying that it is ‘immoral that the PP is using the provincial government as a marketing agency for private healthcare’.
Provincial PSOE deputy and mayor of Benejúzar, Miguel López, said it was ‘indecent’ that Sr Mazón should come to the Vega Baja to defend private concessions in healthcare.
“It doesn’t surprise us that the PP should support the concept of healthcare as a business,” he said.
“This is the legacy of Zaplana that Mazón wants to inherit.
“But we will not allow him to use his position to knock public management of services.
“We will defend public health with all our strength, particularly in times like these.”
He added that Sr Mazón seemed more like a salesman for a private company than a public representative.