Zury Rico’s father has been residing in the University Hospital of the Canary Islands (HUC), located in La Laguna, for two months. This past Saturday, he was transferred from a shared oncology room to a private one due to the seriousness of his condition. Shortly after the room was vacated, his family discovered an additional cause for concern during this challenging time. As reported to Canary Islands Now by his son, the state of room 1016, which he occupied for barely 24 hours, is unacceptable for a public hospital in the 21st century. Worse still, it poses a genuine threat, as when he leans against the balcony rail, he fears falling from the tenth floor due to the severe decay and detachment of the iron structure that once secured the protection to the facade and ground (evidenced by photos and videos provided to us, in which he appears outraged by his “discovery” while inspecting the room on Saturday).
In an interview with this publication, Zury Rico emphasised on Sunday morning that they have no grievances regarding the medical care and other services his father has received during these two months. Nonetheless, he criticises to Canary Islands Now a situation he deems “unacceptable” and almost unbelievable in this era, “which leads me to question how our taxes are being used. I publicly voice this because if I don’t, nothing will undoubtedly change, and more importantly, it is very likely that I might plummet from here if I lean too much on that railing. This is everyone’s hospital, and it cannot be like this,” he asserts.
The photos reveal a room with a net in the corner of the ceiling to prevent debris from falling, several significant cracks, dampness near various sockets and switches, flaking paint, rusted and detached iron on the balcony’s protection, cracked glazing, and a lack of adequate ventilation, all during a Saturday with a fire risk alert in mid-November.
Rico not only alerts about the status of this balcony in 1016 but also highlights the considerable dampness affecting the ceilings and other areas of the room, suggesting that minimal maintenance has been neglected for quite some time in this part of the facility. “In a hotel, for instance, the sensible thing would be to rectify any crack immediately or address moisture as soon as it is identified; in a public hospital that serves everyone, particularly one of such significance, it should be managed similarly: a balcony cannot be left in such a precarious state.”
Although he has yet to communicate with other relatives of patients in the vicinity of that room on the 10th floor, he fears that similar situations may exist in other rooms simply due to the overall condition of the façade. What he desires, regardless of the ordeal they are enduring with his father’s illness, is for immediate action to be taken as swiftly as possible so that the next individual who occupies room 1016 or any other room facing identical issues and hazards does not have to resort to making a public complaint.
In a few weeks where Protests by healthcare staff have intensified due to the turmoil in the HUC Emergency Room (yet again, yet another year…), checking the condition of this room reflects poorly on priorities within Health and suggests that many tout it as a fundamental component of the welfare state in a nation and region that leads the growth of GDP globally (even compared to emerging economies), which has consistently decreased unemployment and continues to achieve record tourism figures every month.
