Days ago the president of the Council of TenerifePedro Martín, launched a clear request to the Ministry of Health of the Government of the Canary Islands: that it promptly put out to tender the drafting of the project and execution of the expansion works of the Hospital del Norte, located in Icod de los Vinos, since he reasonably understood “that the investment for this center is similar to that which has been announced for the one in the South”.
Asked about his statements by this newspaper, Martín admitted that the Hospital del Norte has “a tremendous delay” and “we don’t want it to be delayed any longer.” One of the reasons for this delay is that it is not entirely dedicated to the hospital but rather to providing services to elderly people with a high degree of dependency, as is the case of the 99 users of the Santísima Trinidad center in La Orotava who in September 2013 they were transferred to Icod de los Vinos due to the deficiencies that the property presented.
The Cabildo has recently solved the problem that prevented the construction of the new building in the La Boruga urbanization so that the elderly could return to La Orotava and leave space in the Hospital del Norte. However, Martín considers that this is not enough. “We need a commitment from the regional government, which at the time stated that at the beginning of the year, specifically in the first quarter, it would already have the project and the expansion commissioned and we do not want it to continue to be delayed because this resource needs to expand the portfolio of services. , have operating rooms and adequate areas for analysis”.
Another reason has been COVID-19, which forced all efforts to be dedicated to collaborating with the regional administration to find places where the staff in hospitals and residences could be vaccinated and reinforced. “But now we are at a time when the pandemic is beginning to let us enter a different stage and we have to return to two of the great pending issues on the Island, which are the North and South Hospitals, which is the same as betting on the health of Tenerife”.
Investment for Hospital del Norte
According to the calculations of island president, the investment required for the North Hospital could be similar to that proposed for the South, about 40 million. “Although what it is about now is that we start the works and that these, once they start, be done in phases so that they allow new services to be put into operation.” He clarifies that “it is not about making a great expansion and finishing it, but different deadlines could be established to incorporate new specialties and expand the portfolio of services”.
The head of the Cabildo stresses that in this matter “the sensitivity is evident, both from the municipalities and from the population.” Moreover, he adds that “few actions arouse as much consensus as investing in the two hospitals, which has been promised for so many years and unfortunately previous governments did not take enough interest to start up a real hospital, which is what is really should do, not just build a building.”
In Pedro Martín’s opinion, “CC never considered setting up hospitals in the North and South of Tenerife. He had to assume that in the face of great social demand and a request from the mayors, he had to start doing something and he had no choice but to focus on these facilities as hospitals. Perhaps, if it had started like this from minute one, today we would probably already have the Hospital del Norte”. Therefore, he added, “we have lost too much time and now that everything is not pivoting around COVID, it is time for us to recover it and start investing in the two hospitals that, along with the roads, are the biggest problems that the Island has. ”.
