He president of the Provincial Council of León, Gerardo Álvarez Courel, He held a meeting yesterday with the Minister of Health, Alejandro Vázquez, asking for “urgent solutions” to improve health in the province and in particular to the “problems that particularly affect El Bierzo”, where “the cuts in health issues of the last decade have left the region in a critical situation.”
Among the main demands presented by the President of the Provincial Council were: a solution to the shortage of oncologists at the Hospital del Bierzo and the development of the bill to offer places in areas with difficult coverage. In addition, Courel demanded the implementation of a plan to improve outpatient consultations and the installation of the radiotherapy service at the El Bierzo hospital, as well as a response to the “endless waiting lists” for specialties and diagnostic tests in the hospitals of El Bierzo. .León and El Bierzo.
In this sense, he considered that The comprehensive health care plan for El Bierzo announced last week by Vázquez “is insufficient” to address the serious problems facing the region.
The president of the provincial institution also stressed the need to expansion of the intensive care unit of the León hospital, The Minister of Health assured that the project is in the development phase and that its delivery is scheduled for the end of the year, while the call for tenders for the works is scheduled for 2025.
Likewise, Courel requested “more investment and specific actions” in the health centers of the province, such as the one in Pinilla, in San Andrés del Rabanedo, whose project is already underway and whose delivery is scheduled for February 2025, at the same time that he was interested in Villaquilambre. outpatient clinic that, according to the councilor, “is awaiting the location of the possible land and the change of use and transfer by the City Council, as well as the urbanization of the surroundings.”
Regarding the case of Ponferrada I, the Ministry confirmed that it is awaiting the transfer of the land by the Ponferrada City Council. Furthermore, regarding the renovation and expansion of the Cistierna Health Centre, the councillor reported on the investments made in radiology, as well as in the improvement of the building envelope, reports Ical.
Finally, the president of the Provincial Council reiterated the need to advance the creation of a Faculty of Medicine at the University of León, which “would contribute to alleviating the lack of health professionals in the province”, since “medical students from the territory would be more inclined to occupy positions within the province and thus contribute to the establishment of the population.
