Take-over 'reckless' claim opponents
A VALENCIA-based pressure group which supports private investment in public healthcare has claimed it would ‘reckless’ for the regional government to take over Torrevieja hospital and its health department ‘in the middle of a world pandemic’.
The platform SanitatSolsUna stated that the move could have serious consequences on the management of Torrevieja healthcare department.
The coalition government in Valencia has stated that it is in favour of not renewing the 15-year concession handed to the company Ribera Salud, which is owned by US-based Centene Corporation.
They would have to notify the company of their decision in October and complete the move to bring the healthcare area back into the public fold by October, 2021.
SanitatSolsUna claimed that figures show the Torrevieja healthcare department is the best in the Valencia region for efficiency and has very low waiting lists.
“The Valencia government thought that the worst of this healthcare crisis had passed but this summer has shown that this is not the case,” they stated.
“We should all be concentrating on the fight against Covid-19 and not on attacking public-private partnerships.”
The Valencia government has not responded to the statement.
However, leading figures such as Valencia vice-president Mónica Oltra have stated that public healthcare should not be in the hands of private companies.
A local pressure group, Torrevieja 100 x 100 pública was set up last month to push for the public take-over of the department.