The PSOE of Lanzarote denies the accusations from Coalición Canaria and asserts that its Functional Plan included expanding the Insular Hospital with up to 118 beds, not its closure.
The general secretary of the PSOE of Lanzarote, María Dolores Corujo, has firmly denied that her party has proposed the disappearance of the Insular Hospital. In a public appearance, she accused Coalición Canaria of deliberately lying to divert attention from the future of the centre.
Corujo insisted that the real issue is what the Government of the Canary Islands and the Cabildo of Lanzarote will do with the Insular Hospital, a key resource for geriatric and care services on the island.
A plan with more beds and services
The former manager of the Health Area of Lanzarote, José Luis Aparicio, detailed the contents of the Functional Plan that his team presented to Assistance Programs. He explained that the document included a hospital structure with three hospitalisation units and a palliative care unit, with a total capacity of between 102 and 118 beds.
“The Functional Plan proposed by the Management did not eliminate the Insular Hospital nor did it empty its care function. On the contrary: it included 32-40 beds for the Acute Unit, 32-40 beds for Medium Stay, 30 beds for Long Stay, and 8 beds for Palliative Care,” Aparicio stated.
The former manager emphasised that this data is objective and verifiable, as the plan is public, and contradicts the narrative of Coalición Canaria. “It is false that the disappearance of the Insular Hospital was proposed. We commissioned a technical planning document, with an increase in the number of beds, units, and future care capacity,” he added.
The adjacent residence, a move already planned by CC
Regarding the Adjacent Residence, Aparicio clarified that its removal from the scope of the Insular Hospital was not a proposal from the PSOE, but was already foreseen in the integration agreement signed by Pedro San Ginés (then president of the Cabildo of Lanzarote) and José Manuel Baltar (councillor for Health). “The Adjacent Residence is not in the Functional Plan because San Ginés and Baltar had already planned its removal. They set a deadline to launch the new socio-health centre in Teguise and transfer those places there,” he explained.
The former manager recalled that the expectation was that, once the Teguise centre became operational, the places from the Adjacent Residence would move to that new resource, freeing up space in the Insular Hospital. “Therefore, it is also important to clarify the facts in this regard. The removal of the Adjacent Residence was not a proposal introduced by the PSOE, but a provision that was already included in the agreement signed by Coalición Canaria,” he added.
Criticism of CC's misinformation
Aparicio also denounced that Coalición Canaria is spreading an image that, in his opinion, does not reflect the entirety of the project, but only a partial scheme of internal and external circulations of the ground floor. “The complete building envisaged in the Functional Plan included the ground floor, first and second floors. Using a partial plan as if it represented the whole can lead to a misinterpretation and generate confusion among the public,” he pointed out.
The PSOE reminds that social concern is heightened by the statements of the president of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo, when suggesting a “different” Insular Hospital, without clearly guaranteeing the continuity of its current geriatric model.
Corujo concluded: “They can lie, they can manipulate technical documents, and they can try to divert the debate, but they will not cover up the main issue: Lanzarote wants to know if Coalición Canaria will maintain the Insular Hospital as a geriatric hospital. That is the answer they still have not given.”
The PSOE has reiterated that it will continue to defend the continuity of the Insular Hospital, its comprehensive reform, and the maintenance of its geriatric and care model. Meanwhile, the residents of Lanzarote await a clear response from the Government of the Canary Islands and the Cabildo regarding the future of this healthcare centre.
You may also like
