The platform Pro Public Hospital of Southern Tenerife and the Círculo de Empresarios of the region called on the Department of Health yesterday to “put in more effort” to complete the hospital in El Mojón.
The spokesperson for the platform, Jordi Esplugas, acknowledged that there is “discontent” within the group he represents over the “one-year” delay in issuing the tender for the drafting and management of the hospital expansion project. This project will nearly double the current hospital area and will be built in the existing “eyesore” that appears to be an abandoned structure at the entrance of the hospital.
“It should have been completed by last summer at the latest. Now, we have been promised that the tender will be issued in September or October for that drafting. If all goes well, we will have the project by early 2026, and the Minister of Health has assured us that there will be a budget allocation next year so that by 2026 the works can finally be awarded and the expansion can begin, lasting two to three years,” Esplugas stated yesterday on Onda Tenerife.
Commitment from Authorities
Esplugas reminded that both the President of the Canary Islands Government, Fernando Clavijo, and the Minister of Health, Esther Monzón, conveyed to the representatives of the platform during their first meeting of the current legislature on 12 September 2023 the necessity of executing the hospital expansion works “of course,” following the approval of a €45 million investment in the previous legislative period.
Hospital Area Expansion
The expansion of the hospital area by 22,000 square metres will lead to significant improvements in service delivery, including a major increase in the number of operating theatres, rising from the current 4 to 18, as well as the opening of maternity wards and the blood bank.
Meanwhile, the Círculo de Empresarios del Sur de Tenerife (CEST) stated yesterday that “there are no technical or budgetary excuses that justify postponing this infrastructure,” thus demanding the “necessary budget allocations” to complete it.
“The South will continue to support the historical demand of the Pro Hospital of Southern Tenerife platform in the fight for the centre that our region needs,” stated Javier Cabrera, president of CEST, who reminded that “we are not asking for privileges, but claiming a basic right: access to quality public healthcare that is close and efficient.”
